If you want it, take it
by Evey Claire
Summary: A Claire and Myrnin romance. A twisted one.
1. Ruining My Life

**Hello lovers of Morganville, Vampires and hopefully MyrninXClaire! If you don't like the pairing well read this anyway and consider yourself converted. This is my first fanfic by the way so please keep an open mind! Sadly, I do not own anything. If I did book 11 never would have been published. It was a waste of perfectly good trees. So this is set soon after **_**Bite Club**_** because I choose to pretend that **_**Last Breath **_**does not exist! I thought the whole draugr thing was waaay too confusing and Shane's proposal unnecessary and tacky! Ahh but now I'm rambling! Read on little monsters! R&R**

Sunlight warmed my face, streaming in from the window opposite my bed. I sighed and buried myself deeper into the warm mass of blankets, safe and secure. In that brief moment as I woke up I was utterly peaceful, I had forgotten where I was, forgotten who I was and the only thing that mattered was that I was safe. But I wasn't. I couldn't be, no truly ever safe, not here. I frowned, unhappy that my own thoughts had ruined my parting contentedness. I let out another sigh and rolled over, searching with my hand for the beautiful boy who was my lover. My heart pounding, I realized I couldn't find him and shot up in bed looking to see where he was. No one was there. Silly me I thought to myself, of course he's not here, not after the things I said to him last night. I shut my eyes and dropped back onto the bed willing the images to stop racing across my eyes.

I heard the front door open and lifted my head off the couch in time to see Shane walk through the door, carrying a take-out bag and smelling of barbeque. I smiled at him and waved.

"Dinner?" I called out questioningly.

"Not for you sleepy head," he said teasingly, pulling the box away from my outstretched fingers.I rocked back on my heels, crossing my arms and glaring at him, my lips pulled back into a pout.

"Don't be angry with me, a man's gotta eat!" he said, a smirk starting to spread across his face. I changed my expression into my best puppy-dog face, staring up at him expectantly, willing him to hand over the box.

"Not fair Claire, you know I just can't resist that face!" he said, his expression deepening. I blinked once and tilted my head to the side and said in my most innocent voice, "What face?" He leaned forward to kiss me, dropping the box onto the table, the food forgotten. He kissed me lightly at first, but I quickly deepened turning into something more. I pulled him back towards the living room and pushed him onto the couch, settling myself in his lap without ever breaking the kiss. Eventually we pulled apart for air keeping our noses toughing, staring into each other's eyes. This must be love I thought, this must be it because I have never been happier in my entire life.

"I love you," I whispered to him.

"I love you too," he whispered back, reaching up with his hands to pull my face back to his.

"Whoa there guys, let's keep it PG, after all we do have a minor in the house," said Eve jokingly. I jumped up off the couch, my face reddening in embarrassment. Shane stayed sitting, eyes sparkling and lips pulled back into an adorable smile.

"Your just jealous cuz Mikey's not home," he responded. Eve rolled her eyes, flipped him the finger and walked into the kitchen.

"You know what, I think that it's you who is missing Michael. Don't worry I won't tell anyone about your bro-mance!" she called out laughing.

"Yeah like I'd ever like some bloodsucker like that," he muttered.

"Hey," I said glaring at him, "Michael's your friend. I thought you were past this."

"Don't worry," he said pulling me back into his lap, "It's nothing against Michael, just the thought of liking a vamp in general." I sighed not convinced.

"Honestly, I'm over it," he said leaning in to finish where we left off. Just as his lips once again met mine my phone went off with an annoying shrill.

"Ignore it," he grumbled and kept on kissing me. I let him for a moment longer and then twisted myself out of his grasp and grabbed my phone off the table. I flipped it open and checked the caller-ID….Myrnin.

"Let me guess, it's your stupid vampire boss, isn't it?" Shane said, the anger evident in his voice. I shot him a look and answered.

"Hello?"

"Claire, you can't have tomorrow off. I would say I'm sorry but I'm not. Be here at 6 o'clock sharp no exceptions and if you're late I'll eat you," Myrnin's voice answered sharply from the other side.

"But….." I started to say but stopped when I heard him click off on the other end.

"Ahhh, stupid Myrnin, I hate you," I said dropping back onto the couch and began massaging my temples with my fingers.

"What now?" asked Shane.

"Myrnin's making me go into work tomorrow," I said.

"But tomorrow is my day off and I thought we were going to go see a movie together."

"I'm sorry Shane but I can't, we'll just have to go next week," I said to him, averting my eyes.

"No," he said, standing up, "We are going to the movies. You'll just have to call him back and tell him that you can't work. Or better yet just don't go to the lab tomorrow."

"Shane, come on now, you know I can't do that! He'd kill me, or Amelie would. I can't just blow off my job!"

"Yes you can!" he stated back.

"No Shane I can't and you shouldn't expect me to!" I yelled at him.

"You know what, I'm starting to think that maybe there is another reason why you keep doing everything that crazy bloodsucker commands."

I froze, anger turning everything into sharp focus, "Just what are you implying, Shane."

"I'm not implying anything, I'm flat out stating that I think you're cheating on me with him," Shane said, eyes flashing with hurt and rage.

"I cannot believe you just said that to me! Out of all the ridiculous things-!"

"It's not ridiculous! I've seen the way he looks at you! Don't tell me you don't see it too! At first I wasn't worried because you always acted like he wasn't important but lately you started looking back at him," he stopped, turning away from me. I knew I should feel bad but I was just too angry and I couldn't seem to be able to lock the anger away.

"So you're saying that if I _look_ at my boss then I must be cheating on you with him. _Really _Shane, do you know how stupid that sounds, do you even hear yourself?" I shot back questioningly.

"It's the way you stare into his eyes…" he said but stopped, sounding hurt and confused. I immediately felt bad for implying that he was stupid. He's just hurt I thought, he's only acting like this because he loves me.

"I can't believe you could ever look some disgusting…_thing_ like that in the eyes," he muttered. That's when I snapped. I had never felt so enraged in my entire life. How could he have so much hate and prejudice in his heart, especially with how wrong he had been proven in recent events? In that one second I hated him, just for a fraction of a second I hated what he was and how he acted. It was really the smallest possible fraction but that's all it took, I wanted to hit him where it hurt and I knew just how to do it.

"Well he does have pretty eyes. Maybe I just wanted to look at something beautiful after having to look at you all day," I stated, my voice flat and eyes burning.

His expression was pure pain, pure innocent, unneeded, unnecessary pain.

My stomach twisted and I wanted to take it back, take it all back and wrap myself back into his arms and tell him just how much I loved and needed him. But I knew I never could and it felt terrible, like someone was repeatedly stabbing me in the stomach over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, I really didn't" I whispered, searching his eyes for any sign that he might forgive me. There was none, his faced had twisted into the most unnerving mask of hate that was directed entirely at me, the anger turning his normally soft features cold and sharp. I knew it wasn't the content of the insult that hurt him the most but the fact that I had said that Myrnin, a vampire, a vampire who had tried to kill me on numerous occasions was better than him.

"Get out of my sight," he stated, but his voice was wrong, it wasn't him, it was anger.

"Shane…" I said helplessly, begging him with my eyes to forgive me.

"No," he said bluntly, "Get out of my sight."

No longer able to hold back the tears, I burst out crying and pushed past a very shocked Eve and ran up the stairs and into my room, slamming and locking the door behind me. I sank to the floor in a heap, my head a whirl of emotions and cried until the world had no more meaning.

I awoke sometime later to Eve knocking on my door asking me if I was alright and if she could come in. I chose to ignore her and simply stripped down to my underwear and climbed into my empty bed. I tried to escape the pain and fall into the peaceful numbness of sleep but every time I closed my eyes images of Shane's pained face came into my mind, staring back at me. I sobbed harder and curled myself into the tightest ball I possibly could, trying to make myself so microscopic that I would disappear. I stayed that way, sobbing and shaking, for I don't know how long until exhaustion overtook my fear and gently pulled me into the oblivion.

Depressed, I rolled onto my other side so that I was facing the wall and tried to make my mind once again blank so that I might be able to slip back into the realm of oblivion. I sighed again because I knew that was pointless. I would never be able to forget, not for a single second. I turned and looked at the clock. It read 10:27. Late, and just a little late, 4 and half hours late. Myrnin really was going to kill me this time. Oh well, if I'm already that drastically late I really don't need to go at all. Guess I wasn't going to work after all, how ironic.

I rolled my eyes and snuggled back into my bed, just because I can't sleep doesn't mean I can't stay in bed all day. Besides, I'm far too overdue for a mental health day. I stared at the door willing Shane to walk through it and tell me he everything was going to be alright, that he forgave me and all was well. But I knew the truth, that was never going to happen. I ruined the best thing in my life and it was no one else's fault but my own.

"Great job Claire," I said to myself, "You really know how to hurt people don't you?"

I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time and let the pain and sadness sink into me fully until I could feel nothing but the dense pressure of thought.

**Don't fav without reviewing thanks! And please be kind, I know I'm not the best writer! Constructive criticism is what I need! **


	2. Into the Dark

**Here's Chapter 2 kiddies! Hope you guys enjoy! (You better since I skipped studying for my exams to write this!) And on a side note Sam isn't dead. I felt like his death was pointless and I find the whole AmelieXOliver thing absolutely disgusting! Sorry Rachel Caine. Not that I will write anything about him but don't be surprised if I do! I still don't own anything! Read on little monsters. R&R!**

I woke up to a buzzing sound vibrating through my ears. I groaned and rolled over, reaching to hit my alarm. I hit the button, but the buzzing didn't stop. Surprised I sat up and hit it again before I realized that the buzzing wasn't coming from any electronic.

_A portal._

I had just enough time to process that thought before Myrnin came striding into my room wearing tight black skinny jeans and a pair of red trainers under his signature old-fashioned, Victorian, black coat. He was, of course, topless under this coat and I unwillingly found myself starting at his well defined stomach.

"You're late," he said in a flat voice, "I told you not to be late." I flicked my eyes up to meet his soulless brown ones and was surprised to see that he actually looked offended.

"Uhhh…I…was, well I was…umm," I stuttered.

"Yes, yes, you were supposed to have the day off. Blah, blah, blah. I'm sure you'll inform me of your opinion whether I like it or not. Buuuut," his voice took on a sickly sweet edge and his eyes slid shamelessly to my chest, "Perhaps you should get dressed first."

With a gasp I yanked the sheets up to cover my chest realizing that I too was topless. I felt my face heat up and quickly cast my eyes to the floor my embarrassment rendering me speechless. He let out a rich laugh.

"My, oh my, I think my little bird is self conscious," he said darkly, a wicked grin spreading across his lips. For a moment I found myself scared of him and could feel my heart racing in my chest. I had seen that smile before and things never ended well when I did, but I soon realized that the smile wasn't some disease. It was utterly and completely his. I relaxed and slumped back into my bed, silently wishing he would go away and leave me to my misery.

"Don't worry, you have nothing to be ashamed about!" he said lightly, and instantly my embarrassment returned. He couldn't mean that he thought I looked….nice, could he? He reached down to my floor, picking up handfuls of the clothes I had left strewn about and finding something he liked, threw the bundle at me. I stared down at his fashion choice and was completely shocked to find that the outfit he had picked out was, well it was rather adorable. It consisted of a pair of white-washed, ripped jeans, a hand-woven brown belt, and a black cut-off tee. Turning my back to him I quickly yanked on the clothes and jumped out of bed.

"Hurry up now," he began flippantly, "We need to get back to the lab and finish my experiment. You've already made me HOURS late and we simply can't waste anymore time. You see I've finally figured it out! I just had the wires connected wrong, but how was I supposed to know that the wire faded to green instead of staying red? I wasn't really and I finally got that figured out but then I had to use some strange computer program that I was completely unawares about how to use, and may I remind you that I wouldn't have had that setback if my assistant was where she was supposed to be, and that took sometime but now I really do think I've got it! I just need to quickly test it out on you to make sure that it actually works." He said this in a matter of seconds, so completely fast that my mind tuned it out as gibberish.

"Slow down Myrnin! First of all I couldn't understand half of that, second you are sooooo not testing out **anything** on me, and C, no wait, thirdly, I can't come back to the lab with you, not today. In fact why don't you give the week off, or the whole month for that matter!" I responded. I doubted I could fix things between me and Shane in just a week and there was no way I was going around Myrnin, or any vamp really, until we sorted things out. Or, I painfully thought, end them.

"What do you mean you aren't coming to the lab today?" Myrnin asked, "May I remind you that I am your boss and you will do as I say. Your opinion matters little to me."

"No. Please Myrnin, not today," I begged.

"And why not?" he asked, concern spreading to his features as if were just realizing how hurt and miserable I looked, "What's wrong, little Claire?"

"Nothing," I mumbled, letting my head hang down, "Nothing that would concern you anyway." Myrnin moved quickly, and before I could stop him he swiftly picked me up and pulled me into his lap, lifting up my chin and forcing my eyes to meet his.

"Claire, anything that hurts you concerns me. Understand that. You are the most important thing to me. I care about you as much as someone like me can. Now, tell me what happened." Myrnin said it softly but with enough force so that I knew that he meant every word he said. I let my eyes drift down to the bedspread, staring at the swirling patterns encompassed there.

"I got in a fight with Shane. It was bad Myr, really, really bad. I said something I really shouldn't have and I don't think he's ever going to forget it," I said and was not surprised to hear my voice crack on the last words. I looked back into Myrnin's eyes begging him to understand that this time it was different from all the other fights, this time was the worst. Myrnin looked at me with a sudden intensity and held my shoulders tightly in his hands.

"Listen to me and listen well. That boy is in love with you, more then I have ever seen someone be in love. I have seen thousands of romances throughout my long life and I have never seen someone feel so strongly for someone else, ever. You will just have to trust me when I say that I _know_ that he will forgive you. Give it time and it will work out. I promise.

"But I also promise that if he ever hurts you in any way, may it be physically or mentally, I will end him. Got it?" Myrnin said with such compassion and truth in his eyes that I almost forgot that it was him. He released me from his grasp and I pathetically nodded my head, wanting nothing more than to fall back asleep. He pulled me back into his arms and gave me a brief hug. Usually I would be shocked by this behavior but I was currently too tired to care.

"Don't worry little one, give him some space and let time heal your wounds. It will all be fine," he said reassuringly, "And if you let me I'd like to take you out to do something fun tonight, help you get your mind off things."

"And what exactly would that be?" I asked suspiciously, slightly raising by eyebrows, a billion thoughts racing through me head and not of them good.

"Now, now Claire, I'm much too young and innocent for that kind of thought," he said seductively, a faint quirk of a smile spreading across his lips.

"Sure you are Myrnin, sure you are," I said rolling my eyes, already in a much better mood. I guess he just had that kind of effect on me.

"Come, come child, we must be quick if we are to make it to our destination before it becomes midnight," he said excitedly, eyes burning with a hidden secret and excitement. He reached down and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the portal, already flipping through different channels at a breakneck speed.

"Myrnin my shoes!" I called out.

"No time for them, besides I don't like shoes," he responded.

"Here we go again," I mumbled to myself and obediently followed my companion into the blackness of the portal.

**Hope you guys enjoyed this! And please make sure to review! I promise that it is completely painless and quite easy. See the little review button, yeah that one right over there, press it. You know you want to! Also I would like your guy's opinion on whether I should do some stuff from Myrnin's POV! I am also open to any suggestions on this current plot or any other stories you think I could write! 10 reviews before I'll update! Thanks guys!**


	3. Another Place Unknown

**Oh my, chapter 3 already? I would like to say thanks to all the wonderful people who decided to that reviewing wasn't that hard at all! Hope you guys enjoy. Read on little monsters! R&****R**

"Myrnin where are we?" I said, gazing around in confusion.

"Underground," he said in a distant voice. He was already busy pushing buttons and flipping switches on a large board that hung on the wall.

"Yeah, I figured that much," I said with a sigh.

"Then why did you ask?" he said without looking at me. I could now faintly hear a whirring noise and saw a large section of the wall move away. Behind the wall was a large cavern with a rounded, white marble ceiling that looked at least 3 stories away. The floor was a dark paneled wood and several desks were set amongst the room at equal intervals. Glowing green lamps were lit on the desks and I saw that some were piled high with papers and others held modern looking computers. Along the walls all the way up to the ceiling were shelves upon shelves of…

"Books" I stated. I slowly walked over to the closest shelf and lightly dragged my fingertips across the leather bound spines. The books made the room I decided. The room, though grand in size, was rather simple, but the books, oh the books. They came in every color, size and shape. There was red ones and blue ones, ones with gold writing on the side, ones that looked so old that I thought they might crumble from a single touch. There were ones that appeared to be half a foot wide and even some encrusted with jewels. I frantically began scanning the titles and soon found they were as different as the covers themselves. _The Secret Life of a Bumblebee_, one read, _The Complete Pocket Guide to Properly Duel Wielding_, read another, and even another read, _Racial Phylogeny In the Indigenous Tribes of the Netherlands_. They seemed to be shoved rather neatly into their little shelves although I could not distinguish any order that they might have been placed in.

I carefully looked around the entire room, trying to estimate the amount of books there was. I was shocked to realize that there was simply too many for even my enhanced brain to count. There could have been a hundred thousand or two or even three, at the very least there was ten thousand. I craned my neck back and stared at the ceiling and slowly turned in a circle, taking in the vast number and starting to find an appreciation for the amount of knowledge that was in this room. I felt a sudden pang of sadness as I realized that even if a spent every single second of my life in here reading I would never even get through half.

"_If you were a vampire you could." _

The single thought shot into my brain before I could stop it. Claire, I told myself, you need to get a grip; you under no circumstances would ever want to be a vampire. Think Shane. How would he feel if he knew you thought that? Hmmm? He would hate you.

"_He already does."_

"Shut up!" I yelled at myself, flinging my hands up over my mouth in shock as I realized I said that out loud.

"I'm afraid I didn't say anything, dear Claire." Myrnin said from behind me. I jumped at the sound of his voice and turned around, not expecting him to be quite that close. My heart racing, I looked into his eyes, afraid of seeing the monster there but instead for the second time today found only concern.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…frighten you," he said slowly and quickly backed up about two steps, "But who were you talking to?"

"Oh, I was um…" I stuttered out, my face reddening, obviously embarrassed, "I was talking to myself."

"Yourself?" he said questioningly, his eyes taking on a sharp look and focusing rather narrowly on me, "Take care not to lose you in yourself. It may seem absurd but I would like to believe that I of all people would know just how dangerous a seemingly harmless thing like that can become."

"Of course," I said quickly, my eyes burning holes into the ground. I felt a slight breeze and all of a sudden I was no longer looking at the ground but at Myrnin's shoes. His fingertips lightly pressed underneath my chin and he gently but firmly pushed my head up until I was looking into his eyes.

"Are you truly alright, little Claire? I would not have brought you here if I knew it would cause such meticulously hidden pain to surface." His eyes held such total and complete sorrow and care in them that I found that I could no longer bear his gaze upon me.

"No, no Myrnin, don't worry. I'm absolutely and completely fine." I looked at him and saw disbelief cross his face. Before he could voice his concerns I quickly added, "Honestly."

"No, Claire I don't believe you are, but it is not my place to pry," he said, still studying my face. I quickly looked away and began to walk towards one of the desks, not liking the amount of worry and concern I saw in his face.

"Well…" I said, eager to change the subject, when a thought occurred to me, "What exactly is this place?" In my nostalgia of last night's fight with Shane and the unavoidable exhaustion and depression that came with it, I had completely forgotten where we were, wherever that may be.

"Well, it's a collection of all of the books that any vampire in Morganville has ever owned, but you can simply call it what it is, a library. I'm sure you could not find any way that the books were categorized and that is because they are categorized by owner. Every vampire in Morganville has at least one shelf, except for me that is and I'm sure you know exactly where my books are, perhaps even better than I do," he said with an impish grin. "Since you seemed to take such an interest in constantly reorganizing _my_ books I thought you may find this…attractive."

"It's beautiful Myr, perhaps the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Thank you," I said turning to look at him, a smile unwillingly spreading across my face. "Thank you," I repeated with tears in my eyes because it was simply that. Beautiful.

The beauty went deeper then the simple prettiness of the rainbow of book bindings and my tears came from more than awe at appearances. The beauty of this place came from the vast and possibly endless amount of knowledge, of fact, of history and of value that all these books held and the tears came from the indisguisable fact that Myrnin not only truly and deeply cared about me, but that he truly and deeply understood me. He knew that I needed to forget everything that had happened but at the same time I needed to be able to cry and let the building heartache out. Being here in such a condensed place of knowledge brought about an indescribable feeling of contentedness and overwhelming sorrow at precisely the same the time. This personal knowledge influenced my thought process and caused me to think about my own emotions in a detached state that, while keeping my humanity, saved me from being consumed by them. It was simply brilliant. It was something only Myrnin could think of, something that only he would understand. I stared deeply into his eyes, trying my best to find his reason in the inky blackness but only found myself staring back. I found that this annoyed me to a great end, that he could read into me so acutely and profoundly and I could not even find a single reason behind his obvious and sudden attachment to me. I considered grilling him about it, but realized that he was hiding something, not from me, but from himself, something immense. Something quite considerable indeed if he couldn't even let himself face it. My mind began racing through every emotion that I could think of, trying to pin the exact one that he currently was feeling as he stared back at me and I could find only one, an impossible one.

"You're very welcome," he finally said breaking the silence, his face becoming strained. "You can't come here without an escort of course but I sure Amelie wouldn't mind if you looked through here, as long as you put everything back as you found it and didn't take anything out of this room, that is."

"Of course, I understand that this is a great privilege that very few, if any are allowed and I would not mistreat any leniency I have been given," I said cautiously, still searching his face for any signs that he was going to do something unexpected.

"If I may Claire, I'd like to show you some books that I'm sure would peak your interest, you being a teenage girl that is," he said freely, back to his usual self.

"You know, I sometimes wonder if you forget that," I said tentatively.

"Forget what?" he called down, as he was climbing up the shelves and rapidly thumbing through books.

"That I'm a teenage girl." He paused, mid book, and effortlessly dropped down to my level. I found him once again staring into my eyes.

"Never," he said hauntingly and then he was off, hastily shoving a book into my hands and flitting up amongst the shelves, once again going through them at an alarming rate. I looked at the book in my hands. It was a large book; at the very least a thousand pages, with a green cover and large unfamiliar symbols embossed on the top in a curving, gold script. Even though I searched on the front, back, side and first ten pages I could not find anything that might be considered a title. Under closer examination I realized that the symbols were not only symbols but characters of an unfamiliar language.

"Myrnin," I called up, "What am I supposed to do with this? I can't read it, it's not in English." My question was answered with silence. Annoyed, I look around the room, searching for him but only seeing the rows upon rows of books. I frantically spun in circle, fear beginning to creep into me, desperately searching for any sign of him. I stopped my heart racing, deciding I was going to the find the door and just get out of there when I felt two icy, cold hand s wrap around me, one around my throat and another around my waist, dragging me backwards. I let out a scream and that's when the lights went out.

**Ooooh cliffhanger. I know, I'm a terrible person for doing this to you. Blah blah blah. Good thing all you have to do is REVIEW and I'll update! In fact I've already got chapter four written, it's all up to you guys now! Muahahah! And I mean it this time, 10 reviews before I'll update! 10! I'm only asking for 10, it's not that much really! So review, I promise it's completely painless! XX**


	4. Don't Bite Me, Kiss Me!

**Here it is! The chapter I know you all have been waiting for… almost. Anyways read on earthlings and please enjoy my rather (hopefully) dark take on the pairing that might just out do the love of Romeo and Juliet, maybe, on a good day… R&R!**

The hands yanked me backwards pulling me into the inky blackness. They picked me up, to a point where even though my feet were still touching the ground I wasn't putting any weight on them. It was like floating. The intriguing sensation of this sent my brain into overdrive and almost began to calm me until the hands threw me backwards into the shelves.

I landed against them with a grunt and a moan, my head smacking against a shelf and the corner of a book being stabbed into the small of my back and after a brief moment of confusion, quickly jumped to my feet, trying to ignore the growing pain in my head. I stuck my hands out, trying to feel my way through the never ending illusion of night and slowly began to move in what I thought was the direction of the door. Stumbling blindly, I tripped over what must have been a falling book and fell onto my knees, bruising them. I let out a hiss of pain and frustration and scrambled to pull myself back up, determined to find a way out.

With a buzz the lights flicked back on and I found myself blinded in a different way as my pupils contracted to the smallest possible fraction in order to stop too much light from entering my eyes. Shielding my burning eyes with my forearm, I frantically looked for the door. As nothing became an apparent way out I began to panic.

_No Claire_, I told myself, _think logically. There must be a door somewhere but until you find it you must fight. Stakes Claire, you need stakes. Look in your backpack. _

I began moving to the first desk that I saw as I walked in, hoping that that was where I had left it. After a moments searching I realized that my backpack wasn't there. Where the hell was it?

_At home_ I realized, my hysteria rising. So that was it then, nowhere to run and nothing to fight with.

_Wait, my necklace is silver,_ I thought,_ but that would only work as a diversion and a diversion implies you have a plan, which you don't. You need to reason with him._

Yes because trying to reason with your insane, _hungry_ and not to mention _lethal_, vampire boss is going to go oh so well.

_It's all you've got Claire. You've got to try. Remember, don't show fear, or you're dead. _

"Myrnin," I called out tentatively while slowly turning around in a circle, hoping to catch some glimpse of him, "Where are you Myrnin? This isn't funny."

"No one is laughing sweet, innocent, _foolish,_ little Claire," he whispered throatily, his voice coming from directly behind me. I pulled in a sharp intake of breath and felt my heart literally skip a beat in my fear. As I went to spin around to face him, those cold, strong hands gripped my arms, preventing me from moving. I let out a little whimper, cursing myself as I did for showing a sign of fear, not that he couldn't already hear my fluttering heartbeat. My brain began to black out from the terror and I could no longer think straight. It was all happening so fast.

"Now, now little Claire, you know better than to move. If you be a good little girl now and stay still for me, I'll promise to make this as painless as possible," he said darkly into my ear while one of his hands went up to push my hair away from my neck and gently pull my head sideways while the other slid down to my hips and around to just under my belly-button. He pulled me backwards into him, pressing me against him with such a sudden force that I let out another little whimper.

"Unless of course you like the pain," he growled while his lips pressed into the back of my neck. I could feel him smirking there, against me, and I tried my best not to move or to make a single sound. He lightly kissed me there for a moment or two before he stopped and sighed.

"You're not begging," he stated, "Why aren't you begging? They _always_ beg!" Suddenly he was angry and he shoved me forwards. I caught myself on the edge of a desk, my head snapping forwards and without wasting a second darted sideways towards the opposite end of the room, my resolve gone and only one emotion left, _run._

He, with his unfair advantage, easily caught up to me within a single bound, grabbing my arm and yanking me backwards with a painful burst and once again shoving me against the shelves. Only this time he was there in front of me, pressing up against me and forcing me against the shelves with absolutely no space in-between us. He glared down at me, an evil, predatory look in his eyes, mixed in with something else I couldn't quite identify and slowly slid his hands down me and upon finding my wrists, encircled them with his and pulled them up, over my head, trapping me, and leaving me in a _very_ vulnerable position. I stared back into his eyes with what I hoped was an equally fierce expression, commanding myself to stay strong in my resolve.

"You stupid, little, child, I told you not to run or it was going to be painful. As I believe you silly humans would say, 'No more mister nice guy'. He paused for a moment and tilted his head slightly as if he were trying to remember something forgotten.

"Not that I won't enjoy it more this way," he said seductively, an evil smirk slowly spreading across his prefect lips and a compelling look glinting across his eyes. He shifted his position slightly so that a _very_ specific part of him was suddenly pressing quite forcefully against a _very_ specific part of me. _OH MY GOD_, my mind screamed at me and then much to my dismay a little moan forced its way through me and escaped out my slightly parted lips.

"Then again I'm starting to think that you're going to like it more this way too." With that his fangs slid down with a audible snap, those glorious eyes turning deadly, and he smashed my hands together, over my head, so that his one hand was trapping them both and the other he twisted into my hair and roughly jerked my head sideways, exposing my pale neck. He bowed his head and buried his face in my warm neck, his fangs pressing dimples into my skin.

"Now beg," he whispered breathlessly, his voice taking on a needing tone, and I did.

"Please, please Myrnin! Don't do this! You don't want to!" I said, gasping for my breath, my heart racing, unwillingly saying the words that would doom me.

"Hmmmm… don't I? Well young, innocent Claire, I think you may find that I very much do," he declared indubitably, his voice lilting with a flirtatious edge that enthralled me and drew me in to him.

_Stay strong Claire, _my conscious echoed_, Remember the Shane you must go home to._

"No you don't! You can't kill me Myrnin, you _need_ me! I'm the only one you have left!" I screeched at him, realization and fear hitting me that giving in may lead to my own demise.

As soon as I said those words something changed within his eyes. The cloud of hunger and lust parted and pure, unwavering revulsion pulsed through his expression. At first I believed that it was directed at me, that by becoming his only friend I had taken away his snack and the monster inside of him hated me for it, but I was soon to see that my first impression was horribly mistaken. It was self-hatred, self-disgust. He hated himself for what he was about to do to me. He released me at once and pushed himself away from me, quickly casting his eyes downward but not fast enough that I didn't see the forming tears. He stumbled away from me and turned his back, covering his face with his hands, shoulders heaving from the pain.

"I'm sorry Claire, I'm so so so sorry! I…I…I lost myself, I gave into it. I'm so very sorry, I should've have fought harder against the hunger. Oh god Claire I'm so sorry!" he wailed like a wounded animal. I felt something inside of me twist in agony at seeing him like this, I was the only one who had any chance of consoling him and he was my friend so I knew that I had to forgive him, it's not like my own resolve didn't weaken once in awhile, he who had done so much for me already, truly deserved another chance.

"It's alright Myrnin, really it's alright. I know you didn't mean to, I understand how hard things can be. You're forgiven, it's all right," I murmured soothingly, and tentatively reached out to lightly touch his shoulder. He spun around at my touch, so fast that he became an ethereal blur. He looked at me with such remorse in his eyes, such sorrow, and grabbed my face between his hands.

"No Claire, it's not alright, it never was and it never will be. One day I'll hurt you, you know I will,_ I_ know I will. You need to leave, leave now, leave and never come back. You can't come back to the lab, ever. It's the only way to keep you safe. In fact you need to leave Morganville, you need to have all the surely unpleasant memories wiped clean from your mind so that you may be carefree and innocent once again. Don't worry about Amelie either, I'll deal with her! She has to let you go and even if she won't I'll find some way to sneak you out. Go, go now! You must!" he said, casting me away, but with such emotion and passion in his voice I almost wanted to burst.

I looked aside and saw part of the wall spin into the calming chaos of blackness and felt the familiar energy of a portal. I looked at it solemnly, then back to him. He was looking at me with an eagerness that surprised me. He really thought that this was only way that things could be, that I could never see him again. The simple idea of never coming back to the lab, never again flipping through those century old books, or feeding those awful flies to Bob, or spending hours cleaning the place, only to come back and see it all messed up again, of not seeing the colorful, bubbling chemicals in their variously shaped glass bottles, and the traps and dangers that had been strategically placed everywhere throughout the room left me thoroughly sickened. Going farther, I imagined not seeing him again, not seeing his mischievous, secret smile that he saved just for me, not seeing all those crazy outfits with the Mardi gras beads and the floppy hats and the vampire bunny slippers, not seeing that unruly mop of black curls or his way his smooth pale chest appeared beneath his unbuttoned shirts, of not seeing those endless eyes that held centuries of misery and hate, of love and sorrow, fear and anguish, joy and hunger, of hope and such immense knowledge, left me in such a terrible state of shock and utter panic that I felt as if someone had punched a giant whole through my heart, leaving me with only an endless agony that made tears spring from my eyes and spill down my face in glassy rivets. And that was just the thought of it. How much worse was the real pain going to be? Way worse.

I stared deeply into his eyes and prayed to whatever god there was that he would see just how much I needed him.

"I can't leave you Myrnin, not now, not ever. It's too late. I can no longer have a life that doesn't have you in it," as I began to speak and desperately scramble to try to express my unknown feelings surrounding him an epiphany hit me. Hit me like a meteorite hitting the sun. In that split second a total calm enveloped me and I began to be able to see things in their truth.

I loved him._ I_ **loved** _him_!

I absolutely, undoubtedly loved him. Loved him with everything I had, and everything I would have. I no longer feared my true feelings and gazing into those incandescent, brown eyes, I realized that he loved me too.

Words no longer were needed as he witnessed the truth blaze into my eyes. He ran at me in a blindingly fast speed, and I was never afraid, not even for the most inconsequential fraction of a second, not even as he once again shoved me against the wall, not even as a mixture of love and lust eclipsed his eyes, and certainly not when he finally reached down caressing my face with an impossible tenderness, pulled me against him and kissed me as if I was the only girl in the world.

**Wow. Writing this left me absolutely breathless! I really hoped you guys are enjoying my take on this simply splendid pairing. I was really trying to show that Myrnin is a vampire so he will act like a monster but also that super sensitive and oh so adorable side that he has, the side that only comes out with his little Claire. As always, R&R! And seriously, I'm **_**begging**_**! ****REVIEW****!**

**P.S. Next chapter is where their little relationship heats up! So if you're looking forward to that make sure to review! I shooting for 10!**


	5. In a Town Called Lust

**Hello all you fabulous writers, readers, and fiction seekers! Hope you all enjoy this slightly…intense chapter of the love and heartbreak of teenage human girls and 900 year old vampire men. Don't you just LOVE modern times! Anyways read on and fully indulge yourself on this hopefully entertaining ride of how I always imagined this adorable couple's relationship would work out! **

**And in answer to Davia205's question…**

**Claire and Shane were in the relationship that was depicted in the very lovely Morganville Vampires series (which I do not own by the way) and their relationship hit a, so to speak, "bump" and instead of making them work things out, like they did in the series, I simply made it deteriorate into nothing… As for Claire loving Myrnin well, yes, I am implying that she has been secretly in love with him since she met him but she kept it hidden from everyone…including herself! Until now that is! But thanks for the question because you raised an excellent point that I need to start describing some background information here which hopefully I will do in these upcoming chapters! Thanks and if there is anything else that may come into question feel free to message me!**

**By the way I was giggling like a CRAZY fool when I wrote this! :DD Hope you enjoy!**

It started off slowly at first, a simple caress of skin on skin, but soon built in intensity, the quiet touch turning into a smoldering scream. His lips moved feverishly against mine, pressing with a, in some way expected, force.

His hands gripped tightly around my waist, sliding up and down, back and forth, pulling me into him. My own hands slid up over his exposed chest, running across his chest and up, twisting into his silky black curls. My lips crushed against his with even more vigor, a gasp worming its way up through my throat, as his right hand crept up my stomach, moving up to my breast, cupping it for a moment and then tugging at the thin fabric, exposing my bra. His lips moved across my cheek and swept downward, trailing kisses down to my throat, as he stopped at the spot where my pulse was the strongest. I could feel his tongue tracing the slight raise of the two silvery scars that were placed there, living proof that I was his. With a snap, his fangs carefully slid down, pressing lightly into my skin. They were cold and razor sharp and the idea of them in me sent little shivers down my spine. To his surprise and my own, I cupped the back of his head, driving him to bite.

"Claire…" he moaned, "You have to stop me, you don't want me to do this."

"Oh but Myrnin," I whispered sweetly, mocking him by copying his words from before, "I think I do."

"Say it," he muttered, barely audible. Without any doubts and without wasting a single second I answered,

"Bite me." And he did. The fangs slipped into my skin, raising a moan from deep within me, partially from pain, partially from excitement and arousal. Blood began to flow from the wound and he lapped it up, sliding his tongue across the cut to incite the blood flow. He gulped mouthful after mouthful, like a mad man, driven insane by thirst, which I suppose he was. I leaned heavily into his capable arms and let him drink, my hands roaming over his chest and tracing the outline of his smooth, defined muscles.

Soon, way too soon, my head began to feel heavy and I felt slightly dizzy, and I reluctantly murmured,

"Myrnin."After a second more he pulled his fangs out, licking up the last traces of blood on my skin and leaving a feather light kiss over the newly opened marks. He moved back slightly, just enough to be able to stare into my eyes. In them I saw swirls of lust moving like starlight through the blackness of his love. I stared back into his wild face, carefully taking in his open, blood covered mouth, showing the glinting white fangs, not feeling any of the fear that a normal human would experience. No, I only felt the want, the need, the desire, the love. I leaned forward, hands ghosting up to the back of his head, re-entangling themselves in his perfect hair, and yanked his head towards mine and kissed him, fangs and all. The kiss tasted of my own blood and I somehow found that this made him even more desirable. His hands slid down from my neck, around my arms, and rested heavily on my hips. They slowly slid around to my back and yanked me into him, pressing us so closely together that not even a single atom could get in-between. It wasn't nearly close enough.

He kept on kissing me like it was the end of the world, his tongue slipping into my mouth and exploring every curve while mine did the same to his. I bit his lip lightly, pulling it back.

_Biting a vampire? My, my Claire you have gone insane_, I thought.

He growled in response, his possessive side taking over and moved his lips over to my ear biting tenderly.

"Your mine now Claire, mine forever," he whispered, the need turning his voice dark. I whimpered in pleasure at the thought of this.

"Take me then," I whispered back, my back arching and I moved my hips into him so I could feel his desire more clearly. He pulled back for a moment and gazed into my eyes, smiling that seductive smile that was all his. I stared back and in seeing the lust haze over those lightless wells that had caused lifetimes of mischief, I knew that he most certainly would.

If he had acted with polite hesitation before, there was none now. His lips caught back on my roughly jamming his mouth against mine and plunging his tongue in without pause. They moved to the side of my lips, trailing onto my chin, and moving against my throat with such ferocity that it sent shivers down my spine, and kept gliding downwards until they came to rest upon the tops of my breasts. My hands fisted tightly in his hair and I pulled his face against me as he sucked and nibbled there. I moaned at this, my entire body on high alert, so that every touch sent a course of electricity through me, exciting me more. He, being the most impatient person I had ever, met was not going to be bother by simple fabric and so he reached up and ripped open my shirt in one smooth motion, tearing to shreds and exposing me entirely to him.

He seemed proud of his work and happy with the prize as he moved in licking and sucking my hardened nipples, his nimble fingers traveling first to squeeze my breast and then just into the waistline of my jeans, nearly sending me over the edge. My head snapped back in pleasure, smacking into the bookcase behind me with a sharp crack, sending signals of pain through me that only furthered my ecstasy. He stood back up to meet my lips in a passionate embrace and once again his hands glided down to my back, this time going further as to cup my ass for a moment and then continuing on to grip my thighs.

With a slight shriek from me his hands pulled me up off the ground and he wrapped my legs around his waist, allowing me to distinctly feel his great arousal. I smiled at this because frankly, he felt _huge_. He elegantly walked over to the closest desk, throwing me onto it and slowly crawling on top of me, his eyes carefully watching my every reaction the entire time. I looked into his eyes, and raised my eyebrows in an ark, my own eyes mocking, saying with them,

_Well what are you waiting for?_

_Nothing, _his grin said back. He leaned down and kissed me passionately on the mouth, slowly working his tongue in and around my mouth. I moaned with my own want and decided that things weren't moving fast enough. In one deft motion that surprised both me and him, I twisted in his grasp, pushing him off me for one brief second and then turning around so that I now found myself sitting on top of him. Seeing the slightly bewildered look on his face, I laughed and kissed him with all my might.

As I kissed him something happened. I didn't hear bells ring, I didn't see fireworks, or feel sparks, or any other clichéd ideas, I just simply realized how real this was, how simply _perfect_ this was and it took my breath away. As I kissed him, my minded completely blanked out, leaving me in a daze and wiping out every single thing I was feeling and replacing it all with him, just him.

I rolled away, while keeping his mouth against mine, so that he was once again on top of me. He trailed kisses all the way down my body, stopping at my stomach. His eyes flashed up to meet mine for a brief second and he grinned before moving down to the waistband of my jeans. To my great enjoyment he undid both the button and the zipper entirely with his mouth. His hands half yanked, half ripped my jeans off me and tossed them into some dark corner, leaving me in nothing but my black and white striped underwear.

For the first time we both realized just how far this was going to go and we also realized that this was probably not the most appropriate of places, and with a light giggle from me, Myrnin picked me up in his arms, opened a portal and carried me into the lab. He sat me lightly down on a nearby bench and continued to kiss me lustfully. I pulled away and shook my head, and then proceeded to stride into the bedroom, towing him along behind me.

I closed the door behind us and not bothering to turn on the lights, I yanked him towards me, meeting his lips in fiery kiss. He quickly wiggled his way out of his own jeans and the picked me up and literally threw me onto the bed, landing himself on top of me.

There the last remaining scraps of clothing were twisted away and in the soft glow of a timeless place, we became one.

**Yay, they finally did it! Hope you all loved this little chapter,**_** I**_** rather enjoyed writing it. And many thanks to all those of you who took the time to review! I actually got 10 since last chapter. You guys are great! Next chapter I will hopefully go a little more into the plot of this story but don't worry, plenty of steamy scenes ahead! As always I would be eternally grateful if you reviewed! R&R XXXX**


	6. Life Sucks and Then You Die

**Thanks to all of those who took the time to do the right thing and review! I must say I am a little disappointed in the rest of you though… Buuuuut anyways here's just another thrilling chapter in a timeless tale! Bahahahaha! Oh, I wanted to add that this chapter starts off with a little blip from the very end of the event s of last night! Try not to get confused. Thanks for all your support and I really hope you guys are enjoying this! If there are any suggestions you might have, any concerns, or anything you think I need to change, don't hesitate to review and pour your little hearts out! Read on earthlings and enjoy the show. R&R!**

"_Myrnin-," I started, worry clouding my tone._

"_No child, it is already morning. Sleep now, sleep and let dreams give you answers," he whispered softly in my ear._

"_But Myr, I can't!" I whispered fiercely back, my mind starting to cloud over in a foggy haze from my exhaustion. I fought to stay awake, literally thrashing about in my struggle. I knew I was losing._

"_Be still love, be still," he said, his voice fading into the background; I fought harder to force out the words I needed to say._

"_I love you," I whispered faintly, in a barely audible tone. My consciousness was almost gone but I still felt the impossibly tender kiss that he placed on my forehead and still heard him whisper back,_

"_I love you too, little one. Now and forever." With that I fell into a deep and seemingly endless sleep._

X-X

I awoke in an unfamiliar bedroom next to a beautiful man.

_Myrnin._

Content with things I smiled at him and found he was already awake, staring at me sorrowfully and slowly tracing patterns on my skin.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Claire," he said his finger pausing and he quickly cast his eyes downward, ashamed.

"What are you… sorry about?" I asked, caution filling my voice and showing my doubts. _Is he regretting this?_ I thought to myself.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you little one," he whispered keeping his eyes downcast. The pain was so obvious and deep in him that I immediately felt a growing sadness in me and reached over to touch him

_Pain._ I froze mid-movement, my whole arm cramping up in a sizzling burn. It felt as if someone had burned my skin and torn all my muscles to shreds, it was a pain I knew all too well from the time when I had fallen out of a tree as a child, the pain of a bruise.

I slowly moved my still tingling arm back into the position it had been in and cautiously moved my other arm over, massaging small circles in the skin, gritting my teeth and being careful not to let the pain take over my features. I looked myself over and was no longer surprised to find blue and purple bruises blooming across my skin. _And they were in the shape of handprints. _That's what Myrnin had meant about hurting me. I turned my head afraid to see his reaction and was regarded with mournful eyes that were miles deep and held acres upon acres of heart-wrenching pain and sorrow.

_I'm so sorry,_ they whispered to me, _I'm so, so, so sorry._

"Myrnin," I started, but he averted his eyes and refused to look at me, "Myrnin look at me." He silently shook his head and I saw I tear slide down off the end of his face. I slowly and with great effort to mask my soreness, held his face between my fingers and leaned in closely, forcing him to stare back into my gaze. I saw only remorse in him, much, much, too much remorse for a few bruises. This was going too far. I was torturing him.

"Do you love me?" I asked boldly, giving him reason to think I had doubts about us, which at that moment I didn't.

"Claire-" he started but I cut him off.

"Do you love me? Just answer the question Myrnin." I said, actual doubt beginning to creep slyly into my voice at his hesitation.

"When I look at you I feel a sort of calmness come over me, the constant bloodlust raging inside me is quenched simply by your gaze. When I dream it is of you, of you being an angel from the highest realm of heaven, coming to down to torture me with your beauty and grace. My mind and body are put to ease at your touch and my fears of the future vanish. I only feel truly safe around you. You are my savior, Claire, my light that shines through the darkness of my inhumanity, the glowing sphere of hope that this pain and suffering might end. Yet, when I look at you I also feel a lust, a need for you, to sink my fangs into your perfection and the indulge in the soothing blood of your soul, to throw you down and fill you up with me, to watch you climax and hear you scream _my_ name. I feel these things at the same time and with them, both sides of me become at balance. I feel content and satisfied only then, only with you. So yes, I do love you, but I wish I didn't say that. I wish I could say more than a simple, I love you, because my love goes much, much deeper then the gift of words. It is fearsome and rough and yet gentle and kind. I love you across all of space and time, Claire; I love you more than blood itself. I assure you my dear that it is a never ending love and you never need worry that it may falter," he finished his soliloquy with rush of intense emotion and stared wistfully into my somber eyes.

I stared back, completely speechless that he, my crazy insane, vampire boss was capable of the kind of love he described. Such unfaltering, true love. The kind of love that was only mention in fairy tales, the ones knights in shining armor fought over and evil queens tried to steal. The kind of love that little girls dreamed of, the kind of love that only came with one's true soul mate and the one true love that so few had achieved. The timeless kind, the one that lasted forever. It was simply exhilarating.

Tears spilled over from my eyes and I found myself weeping uncontrollably. Myrnin reached over and gently pulled me into his comforting arms, rocking me back and forth. I felt him shaking and realized that he too was crying. I twisted around his grasp and searched his face for answers to how it was possible that he was feeling such emotion for me, such human compassion. I couldn't find any.

I pulled away from his grasp and slowly got up, claustrophobia settling on me in a dense cloud. I really needed some space, some breathing room. I wasn't ready for this, this…this…_love_ to be so deep and complex, and so soon at that!

I went looking around to find my clothes, buying time. With a sigh I realized that they were all torn apart, and left behind in that strange library. I snapped my head back around and gave him a hard look. He stared back with slight confusion, probably because he had no idea why I pulled away so suddenly and now wanted to leave, but I pretend it was only because he didn't know what I wanted.

"I need to borrow some clothes Myrnin," I said sharply, looking through him with a bored expression. His face literally fell, his whole face covered in a mask of completely shock and slight horror. His expression turned into that of kicked puppy and he stared at me with hurt and bewilderment.

"Now Myrnin," I said softly and turned away, feeling terrible. I had no right to be like this, no right to treat him so harshly and so suddenly, but I needed to go. Now.

"Right, sorry," he said quietly. His face had turned into the learned indifference of a vampire at my rejection but he couldn't quite stop the angered look from reaching his eyes. He got up in one swift motion and spun out of the room at vampire speed and was back within a minute with an exceptionally long, black button down shirt and my brown belt from earlier which had somehow ended up here. He handed them over to me without meeting my eyes.

"I thought you might wear it as a dress. There's a bathroom through that door. Help yourself," he murmured and then was gone in a white blur. I sighed and walked over, into the bathroom, pulling the door closed behind me, feeling even worse than before because even though I had abruptly started acting appalling to him, he still went out of his way to find me something to wear that was well…_nice_. I felt sick and disgusted with myself.

I stared intensely into the mirror and watched my sallow expression stare back, finding every little imperfection and making me hate myself, using looks as a substitute for my actions. Yanking a comb through my knotted hair, pondering what I had just done and wondering if it was reversible, I once again found myself crying.

I regretted how brashly I had acted and with no apparent reason but while I lay in his arms I realized how silly this was, that I could be with him. It wasn't going to work out, at least not well, or more correctly, not well for me. Unless of course… but no that was the unthinkable. It could never work and the sooner I accepted that the better. I felt suffocated, _smothered_ by all the terrible possibilities of how this story might end and I needed to get away, needed to get the hell out of this lab. I needed to breathe. It was all too much, way too much for me to deal with. I wasn't ready to accept his love for me, my love for him. I wasn't ready to face the truth quite yet but I had already hurt him, hurt him deeply and I felt once again felt the rolling waves of sickness in my stomach as his pained face raced across my vision. My thoughts flashed quickly back to the events of a few days before when I had hurt Shane. Strike two.

_Go home,_ my mind told me gently, _Tell him you're sorry and that you need to rest and have time to think things through._

I gave myself one more disgusted look in the mirror and turned to take my leave, my head spinning.

I walked out through the bedroom and awkwardly stood in the lab I knew all so well, one hand twisting around and around my wrist in a spinning fashion.

"I would really appreciate it if you could open me a portal home," I said sheepishly, without looking up to make eye contact, acting much to formal and polite for our familiar relationship.

"Of course and you don't need to come into work later this afternoon, since you have been here so long already I'm sure I've spoiled your plans for the entire day," his tone was clipped, formal. I dared to sneak a glance at his face and was hurt by the stoic look of it. It hurt even more to see that adorable mop of tangled dark brown curls mussed about his head and knowing that I couldn't reach out and touch them.

_Which you have no right to be hurt by,_ my brain told me accusingly, _you caused it._

_Yeah, thanks brain, real confidence booster!_

"Look Myrnin, I'm-," I began but was cut off.

"There's no need for any explanation or apology, it was childish to begin with. Although, I do expect you to continue working for me so I do hope that you can get over any…_human_ feelings you might be experiencing," he said sharply without _really_ looking at me. He was looking at me, but it was like he was looking through me, right through me and at the wall behind. That's all I had become to him now, a wall. His tone and diction still burned, even though I knew I was the cause of it. Calling everything _childish_! I tried to convince myself it was his own hurt words but my mind wouldn't let me accept that. And another thing I had noticed was how his flamboyant speech now was completely void of the many endearments that usually clouded it. I felt as if he no longer cared about me at all.

_Oh, if you only knew how much I loved you and how much this was hurting me, but still I can't. I'm sorry._

"Right…Well then I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," I said, once again staring at the floor, not daring to see if he was looking at me, feeling off. At first I couldn't place it, everything but our tones were normal, or were they. _His clothes. _They were simple, plain, a basic pair of black dress pants and a white button-down shirt. No adornments or bunny slippers, no funky hats or frills from his favored Victorian era, just simple, modern clothes. The lab no long felt like a haven, everything felt off, felt wrong. I felt a sudden urge to sprint out of there like a manic but suppressed the chilled feeling.

"Good-bye," he stated simply and left the room in a semi-usual flourish.

A second later I felt the familiar hum of a portal and turned to my right to step through back into the Glass House. After a fleeting moment of that unnerving falling sensation I was standing in the living room. Chili bowls from the night before had been left on the coffee table and video games and movies were piled haphazardly on the ground in front of the X-box. The whole place smelled like chili and coke, with a slight scent of Eve's lingering perfume and Shane's cologne mixed in. It smelled like home.

"Hello home," I said with a smile, some of my former happiness returning. I felt the house warm up in response to my presence and I went over to pat the wall familiarly, "It's good to see that someone still loves me."

With a sigh I trudged into the kitchen, hoping a sugar rush would help my mood. I opened the fridge with a bang and began rummaging around for a coke when I heard the familiar clomp of Eve's combat boots coming down the stairs. Finding a coke, I pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with a little flop, waiting for her to come in the kitchen. With a creak the kitchen door flew open, showing Eve garbed in full on Goth glory. She was wearing a black, off the shoulder tee with images of daggers, maces and other nasty, assorted dangerous weapons printed across it over a black, long-sleeved, fishnet top, with a dangerously red, short skirt, ripped black leggings, and her favorite boots with the little skulls down the sides. Her black hair was pulled into her signature pigtails on the sides of her head and was held in place by two little, skull and cross-bone, ribbons. Her lips were painted the color of red death and her eyes heavily lined in black liner. She flashed me a huge grin, child-like excitement raging over her expression and she flew at me in a break-neck speed to deliver a bone-crushing hug. I winced slightly, but she didn't notice.

"CB, you're home! I was really starting to get worried about you! By the way we _soooooo_ need to talk! Shane told me you guys got in a fight and you ran upstairs and he was too mad to check on you, the jerk, and next thing you're gone and Michael's saying that Amelie called, saying you're with Myrnin at the lab, and then of course Shane got even more pissy, but he's fine now don't worry, and then you didn't come home for a while so we were all planning our attack on that crazy ass boss of yours in case in he, like you know, ate you. Which of course we couldn't have happening to our youngest, most adorable housemate! Ah, anyways I'm glad you're home so I don't have to worry anymore," she prattled on in a bright, chipper voice at such a fast speed, that I could hardly understand half of it. I smiled weakly at her, too tired to give more than a noncommittal response to her chatter.

"And by the way what _are_ you wearing? It is _so_ cute! But since when do you wear dresses, and where in the world did you even find something like that in Morganville? Spill, cuz I really need to shop there," she said, leaning in like I was going to tell her some big secret. I pulled backed slightly unnerved by her glee and cast my eyes to the ground, worried about how she would react to my answer, knowing I didn't have enough time to come up with a reasonable lie.

"Well, um…well, actually its, um… well, its Myrnin's," I stammered, ashamed. I could feel my face heat up and knew it had become a bright red color.

_Great, just great. Good job at playing it cool Claire,_ I mentally yelled at myself. Eve pulled back from me, blinking.

"Oh, um Claire, I'm really afraid to ask but…Why are you wearing Myrnin's clothes and what the hell happened to yours?" she said, her voice raising at the end and turning the last part into a yell. Her expression darkened with suspicion and she glared at me accusingly. I was prepared for her outbreak and had already come up with what I thought was a sufficient lie.

"Geez Eve, cool your jets! It's not like what you're starting to think! We were mixing acidic chemicals in order to come up with an alternate power source for a fundamental responder to prevent the combination of explosives and one of the valves failed causing a small backfire movement which ended up dousing both of us in chemicals and one of these chemicals reacts violently to water so it was impossible to wash, so I had to get rid of them and I ended up having to borrow some of his," I lied, hoping that my detailed response and use of big, complicating words would convince her it was the truth. I searched her eyes, looking for any sign that she doubted me but thankfully I couldn't find any.

"Right, sorry Claire," she looked at me sheepishly, "I can't believe I went there, woops! Well, no harm, no foul! Besides it's not _that _doubtful considering mister crazy pants himself, right? He_ is_ kind of attractive," She giggled and pranced over to the fridge, rummaging around to find the last remaining can of coke.

"Where are Shane and Michael?" I asked, faking concern but secretly hoping they weren't home. Somehow I just knew that Michael would know everything as soon as we were in the same room, he could probably smell him on me and if anyone saw the bite marks, or the bruises? I self consciously pulled up the collar of the shirt and made sure the sleeves covered my wrists.

"Don't look so worried CB! Shane's not so mad anymore and anyways he's at work and Michael's off doing something for Amelie," she said, a frown spreading across her face, "I'm not quite sure exactly _what_ he's doing, but whatever it is, Amelie thinks its top priority." She let out a sigh and flopped down next to me.

"Everything with Amelie is top priority," I said with a slight giggle. Eve rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Still, she's got me so worried about him, ah that woman! On top of that he won't even tell me a single thing, not one thing! I mean I get Amelie treating me like I'm not important, but I really can't stand it when Michael's all, 'It's vamp business, don't worry about it', like I'm crazy or something." Eve looked at the ground and absentmindedly drew lazy circles around the top of her coke can with her fingertip, lost in thought. I only could feebly nod my head with consent for her feelings.

"Anyways," she started, trying (and failing) to look happy, "What were you and psycho vamp up to?"

"Well, we were, um…experimenting, cuz that's what we scientists do!" I finished with a false bravado, hoping she would overlook my stuttering.

"What kind of experimenting?" she asked, eyebrows arched in delusive question. I began to answer her, but a sudden spark rippled through the house like a shiver sending chills down my back. I abruptly stood up, feeling threatened.

_Someone's here._

But not just anyone, I soon realized. The house did not feel threatened by whomever the intruder was, quite the exact opposite. The house felt, _happy_, relieved. That could only mean one person…

She swept into the room with her inhuman grace, leaving an unnatural chill in her wake. Two guards garbed in black were tailing her, moving to stand equally apart in unison, staring straight ahead without blinking, a focused menace about them. Her lush, white-blonde hair was tied back in an intricate mass of braids and twirls, elegantly ending in a smooth bun. Her clothes were white, of course, she never dressed differently, and were tailored to fit her small frame with symmetry. She wore a pencil skirt that was cut conservatively and a sophisticated jacket with gold buttons tracing down the front. White pumps covered her feet and were craft fully high yet still practical and orthodox. She glanced over us with a bored, distasteful expression, occupied with her own culture and grace. Her eyes cut through the room like diamonds and sent icy spikes in every direction she glanced. She looked proud and dignified and seemed quite out of place in our mismatched kitchen. Her beauty was not at all diminished by her alien looks and fierce eyes, no, it only strengthened her propriety. _Amelie_.

Her gaze landed on me with severity, somehow managing an intensity while still appearing to look through me. She tilted her head at me, giving me a look of disdain.

"I regard that we have acquired a requisite to converse with one another," she articulated, her face turning even more disgusted at that, "Attend me." Without another word she turned deftly and glided through the door with an impossible grace and ease, not bothering to see if I was following. I suppressed a groan and gave Eve an annoyed look, hoping she wouldn't see the fear clouding my vision. She looked back at me, worry marking her own face and stood up as if to follow me. I shook my head and she sat back down, her breathing accelerated and heavy. Trying to look reassuring I shot her a small smile to make it seem as if it was just a simple conversation about my work of something equally trivial, but we both knew it was something much, much more.

I got up and followed the ice queen out the door with not even an ounce of her dexterity and poise, a million curse words running through my head as I imagined the worse.

**O.o Amelie… Shit just hit the fan.**

**And wow, I think that's the longest chapter I've yet written! And yes, I know that this chapter was a little boring but some serious background was needed and also I really needed a little more plot, or really **_**any**_** plot. But then again if you think I should just scrap making a plot and just write a ton of Myrnin and Claire sex scenes feel free to tell me. I sure would enjoy it! ;) Anyhoo hope you all enjoyed this…conservative chapter (I did leave you with a slight cliffhanger after all!) and please, please, please with a cherry on top and those adorable little, rainbow sprinkles, REVIEW! For the love of all that is sacred and holy, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW and leave your dedicated writer content! XX**


	7. A Turn in Preference

**So here it is. Chapter 7. Yay… (heavy sarcasm) First of all I apologize for how long it's been since I've last updated but I have become disheartened with this story, frankly I think it sucks. So on to thing two, I give up on trying to keep these characters in character, on trying to emulate Rachel Cain's style on trying to make this anything like the Morganville series at all. So now I will apologize again for how terrible this chapter's gonna be, I have lost all interest. My current attitude is "fuck this" so these characters are going to do terrible, ridiculous, uncharacteristic, stupid things. This plot has gone haywire and now they are going to fuck up and do completely absurd things which they would never really do. You may now think of this as some sardonic, slightly erotic crackfic, not because it contains humor but because of these impossible actions. Enjoy. **

She moved at a vampire's speed so that I couldn't see her as I pounded up the steps but I didn't really need to as I knew where she was going. I slowed myself to a walk at the top of the landing, not wanting to be out of breath and walked with purpose to the secret door.

To my surprise the guards were stationed on either side of the entrance, staring straight ahead and not even glancing at me as I pushed pass and up another flight of stairs. Here, I took my time ascending the steps as I was not excited to have this conversation. I knew it was going to be very, _very_ uncomfortable. My only comfort was that it would be just as uncomfortable for her as it would be for me. Right then and there, I vowed to make it as uncomfortable as possible just to get back her for getting involved in my business.

Reaching the top I set my features in a glare, being careful not to show any sign of fear and slowly walked towards the elegant couch Amelie had draped herself over. She glared back and we found ourselves in a staring contest. She won. _Damn. _

"What do you want?" I asked abruptly, rudely, somehow finding inner confidence. Her eyes narrowed, shooting ice. Staring at her I could almost imagine her glistening fangs sliding down and sinking themselves into my neck simply for being rude. I nervously swallowed, my whole body tensing in fear and I lost any bravado that I might have had.

"Sorry ma'am," I stuttered, eyes downcast, realizing that pissing her off was definitely not the best of ideas. She smirked at me as if she had just won some kind of game by forcing me to be polite. I felt sick.

"I have learned that you have been involved in some sort of, how shall I put it…_promiscuous _behavior," she said, looking uncomfortable and shifting slightly in her seat, very un-Amelie. I almost grinned. Score 1-1.

"Well," she spoke again, visibly struggling to regain her composure, "What say you in your defense?"

"Defense?" I choked out with a snort, "Since when is sleeping around a crime?" She blanched at my forthright words and I allowed myself a small smirk. Score 2-1. Seeing my grin she stood, a glare racing into her features, her eyes fixated on me with a deadly stare.

"Do not presume that this matter is to be taken lightly. I do conceive that you have extensive and first-hand knowledge of just how fragile Myrnin really is and I am rather unsettled that with that knowledge you still treated him with such disrespect.

"I am truly appalled by this brash and unbecoming behavior. It is very unlike you Claire, I always thought you contained better manners then most," she finished with a disapproving frown. Anger flooded through me in a surprising intense wave. I tried to hold it back but failed, she was overstepping her bounds. She was a god damned _vampire_, the unholy patron of them, and here she was acting like an old lady and scolding me like my mother.

_Mom._ The thought sent a pang of sorrow through me, I really missed my parents. And it was her fault, her fault I could never see them, she did this! I was once again enraged and I rose back to my full height, staring Amelie down with everything I had.

"You're not my fucking mother, Amelie. It's really none of your damn business. You don't have to fake it around us, you know that right? We all know you couldn't give a damn about a single one of us, we're all just _expendable_ to you. And don't worry we don't give a damn about you either," I shouted, literally shouted at her. I was positively fuming at her and her "Everything I do is for the greater good" attitude. I was delighted to see her flinch back at my words, she looked truly miserable.

"Claire, I just don't know how to respond to such-," she started.

"Save it. I've had enough of your bullshit for one day," I spit out and turned to take my leave.

_Thwack! _I was thrown against the wall, bashing my already bruised head against the edge of a picture frame, sending my vision spinning. I pitched forwards but she was there, shoving me against the wall and holding me a good six inches off the ground. Her nails dug into my throat and I could barely choke out a breath. I grasped her wrists, feverishly trying to pull them away but it was no use. She was just too strong.

Defeated I hung in her grasp, begging with my eyes for her to let me go. Somehow I knew she would never kill me but would take me to millimeters before my death. She stared into my deep into my eyes as if she was searching for my soul. Whatever she was looking for in she found and immediately I felt a flow of her power thicken the air and smother me, pulling what little air I had out of my grasp.

"Please," I forced out. With her there was no friendship to coax her out to, she wasn't in some sort of crazy spell and she certainly had no remorse for anything. I had no bravado or hope with her, there was only fighting to stay alive and keep my own sanity from fleeing. I was truly desperate.

In response to my feeble struggle she only glared harder, increasing her power until I felt like I was Atlas and the weight of the sky was on my shoulders, pressing in. Giving in would only kill me but the absolute battle of agony was almost worse than death.

I began to spit out more words but she gripped harder, cutting off the inadequate amount of air I could manage to gasp in. She didn't speak for there was no need to. Her thoughts were more than clear, I had overstepped my bounds by a mile and this would not be acceptable.

Fighting my rising hysteria, I tore my gaze away from her brutal stare and searched the room for something that could suffice as a weapon. Of course I found nothing and once again I was locked in a room with a vampire who wanted to kill me with no weapons and no possible way out. I was truly trapped. I flicked my glance back to her now pure white eyes and was struck with a bolt of pure agony. It felt as if fire was coursing through me, attacking my heart and soul, charring right through my bones and turning my marrow into a melted goop, ripping my tendons from my muscles and slicing my skin into smoldering fragments. It felt as if someone had opened a portal to the center of the sun and pushed me into it. I could only scream as my vision blacked out.

I could vaguely sense that Amelie had dropped me from her grasp and was now in a crumbled mess on the ground before her. I stayed in my heap, afraid past my wits to move and helplessly sobbed at her feet. I focused on being still, on not moving at all from my prostrated position for fear that if I moved it would displease her and she would send back the pain. My body was involuntary racked with shaking sighs as my grip on reality faded. I couldn't fight if that was the result. I slipped farther and farther into the growing blackness until my thoughts slowed and my body numbed.

I don't know how long I stayed curled in that ball and cried, it could have been minutes, it could have been days, I could really care less. I was only concentrating on never again experiencing that pain. I stayed in my exposed position for an endless surpass of time, waiting for my end.

After several moments of regaining my mind I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder as light as a sparrow. I cringed away from the small movement for I knew it was her and she brought the pain. I twisted around to look at her, studying her expression to see if she wanted to hurt me again. In her eyes I saw only sorrow, as if she might have actually felt bad for hurting me. But no, she never would.

She once again reached out towards me, lightly grabbing my shoulder in a way that was meant to consoling but only terrified me.

"Please don't," I whispered barely audible, a slight tremble accenting my voice. Her beautiful features twisted into a most unflattering frown and she looked away from my eyes in embarrassment.

"Claire, I'm sorry. I sometimes forget that you are not one of us, that a mere human cannot withstand the blunt of my power. I am sincere in my apology, I should never have let you experience that," her tone was light and brought me a little comfort. After all she really did sound sincere but still, she was a vampire. I stared at her and without saying anything I knew she could sense my disbelief at her words.

With a trembling hand, she tentatively reached out again, this time tucking my tangled hair behind my ear and brushing the bangs from my eyes. Her fingers trailed down to my jaw, lifting up till I was eye level with her. She watched me with extreme caution as if afraid I would cower away any second. I watched back with the same intensity, waiting for her to hate me once again. Her hand moved to cup my cheek in a gentle embrace, I shivered.

"Please don't," she whispered, repeating my words from earlier, "Don't shy away from my embrace." Her eyes held mine, pleading with me.

I was truly astonished by her open emotions, that it seemed like she really cared about me, she who was always so cold and stoic, so well rehearsed and brutal. Amelie was the epitome of ice, the unfeeling queen. This was simply impossible, I sincerely thought that every last trace of her humanity was gone, frozen away.

She moved close until she was barely inches away. Her other hand moved to cup the other side of my face, rendering me helpless in her polar embrace, her eyes as smooth as glass. A sudden realization came over me that perhaps her care meant something a little…_more_. This thought alarmed me and I tried to move away but it was too late.

Her eyes shifted to the red haze of lust I was all too familiar with and she leaned forward, closing the gap and pressing her glacial lips against mine.

I gasped. The kiss was bitter and cold, full of sorrow and hate, but still it burned with a frozen passion that overwhelmed me and chilled my through and through, building a smoldering intensity that seemed to explode over and over again in an raw blast, a icy spark of electricity. It was simply exhilarating. Fire and ice in completely harmony.

I pressed closer into her, losing myself in the frigid shocks that racked through me, activating hidden feelings. Her tongue outlined my lips sending shiver down my spine. I opened my mouth in response and she dauntlessly slid her tongue, furthering our frozen inferno. She smiled against my lips and pulled back and I found myself gasping for breath. Her grin only widened as I wined for her to come back to me and continue. Impatiently I dove back into her compelling embrace, searching for her lips. She found me before I could and she pushed my onto my back and climbed on top, white fire dancing in her eyes. My heart-rate quickened in anticipation as she straddled me, her ivory skirt sliding way up her thigh. She looked down at me, frowning as if there was something she didn't like. Her gaze flashed up to meet mine for a brief second and a wicked yet seductive grin spread across her face, I swallowed nervously.

Slowly, ever so slowly she began undoing the buttons on my shirt, _Myrnin's _shirt. She smiled wider as she uncovered her prize and I blushed a furious red. I watched her hands glide down, sliding over my breasts and briefly squeezing, causing my breath to catch in my throat. My whole body pulsed with a sudden need for her and my back arched into her hands. Her hands continued on their journey down, undoing buttons and pushing fabric out of the way with ease.

As her nimble fingers found my center, I moaned in desperation for her, wanting nothing but her frozen love.

**Well I hope you guys can see the potential in this, I can. It's not a really over thought idea and it certainly adds and unexpected complication. This out of character change is well, refreshing. Morganville has been done a thousand times over and this is something new. A Claire, Amelie and Myrnin love triangle. This could be complicated! It's really a fun idea I enjoy.**

**But now if you're sitting there thinking "What the fuck is she doing? She's ruing the entire series" I seriously tell you to rethink life. If all you can see is one dimension of truly complex characters then you are the most ignorant person I could know. Buuuuuuut on the other hand if you simply don't like the **_**unexpected**_** paring, my writing style, or the idea because of other reasons that's fine. But if the only reason you don't like this is because you don't think that these characters are realistically capable of this you're CRAZY! Although I really hope you all do enjoy this as much as I am starting to. I would really love some positive or negative feedback on this so don't be afraid to let your opinion run wild, REVIEW!**


	8. Slave to your Memories

**Hey people of the internet, spambots and the occasional robot! Here's chapter 8? Yes 8! Sorry I haven't updated in a while but I been rather disheartened by your lack of reviews(cough, cough, wink, wink)…so maybe this story is going to hell but at least have the courtesy to tell me you hate it! Anyways you consider this my late…very late Valentine's Day gift to you! A fucked up love story that can show you just how messed up shit can get and that you should you be content with your love life, or more likely lack thereof. But read on little monsters and enjoy the show…**

"Founder," I whispered, unable to speak her name, "What just happened?" She gave me a studious look up and down, prepared to respond accordingly to any emotion I might give. I flashed a glare at her face that clearly read "Knock it off" and to my surprise she pursued her lips and nervously glanced away, fiddling with the hem of her skirt which she had somehow managed to get back on.

Finally she glanced back up at me and simply stated,

"I don't know." Immediately her eyes sunk back to the floor and she twisted her hair back in an elegant bun, gave me a helpless glance, yanked the pins out and re-did it. She then sat up straighter, crossed her ankles and folded her hands in her lap in the most lady-like manner. I snorted out a brief laugh and she cautiously deflated into a more casual position, looking rather timid and shy.

I then realized that she was very much indeed _nervous. _The frickin' ice queen of all undead was rendered into an apprehensive mess by _me_ of all people. I let out a long sigh and slid closer to her on the sofa, taking up her hands and looking her straight in the eyes, which was by the way a very nerve wracking thing to do at the very least.

"I don't regret it," I started, taking a flying leap at deciphering her feelings and offering her a small smile of reassurance, "In fact I'd rather gladly do it again. I'm not quite sure how you will continue to react to this and that unnerves me to no great end, but I would rather like us to be able to put things at a balancing point and more forward, wherever forward may take us."

She looked relieved by my plain words, I hadn't freaked or balked, hadn't demanded a relationship or tried to return things to how they had been. I simply acknowledged the fact that we had done something a little…unusual and now being adults about it were going to set things straight and deal with it, which was much more than I had been able to do with Myrnin.

_Myrnin. Oh my precious Myrnin, the man I love!_

I backed away from her on the couch, feeling sweet remorse. He was the sole reason why Amelie had happened, normal good-girl Claire would never have slept with Myrnin and then went right around the next day and snogged Amelie.

_Wow Claire, you plan on sleeping your way through the entire vampire population? Who's next? Old Olly-pop?_

The mere thought almost made me puke and I grimaced in disgust. Well at least I still had some sense left in me.

_But, Amelie._ That woman sent my brain into a mass confusion of spinning circles and adjectives that even my advanced mind couldn't begin to make sense of. She gave me a hell of a headache,

I had to think about exactly how I felt about her. I certainly wasn't going to _date_ her now was I? Amelie and date just didn't belong in the same sentence. I don't even think her and Sam actually dated, not in the modern sense anyways.

Ah! This whole feeling bit was becoming utter nonsense and the whole idea of figuring things out just seemed ridiculous. I was not in the mood to be mature, I just needed to rest! But, if anything were to happen we would end up having a purely sexual relationship that would lead to some sort of love but never any ending, just…being. Which isn't all bad if I was actually in love with her, which I'm pretty sure I wasn't. So that pretty much cuts out any furthering of this unless of course we kept it entirely physical and definitely a secret or unless she was in love with me. Which no, just no, wasn't possible, just back to utter nonsense. Circles upon circles, we were running around in them.

But what if it wasn't utter nonsense? What if it were true? Well that would certainly put a whole through my nice little conclusion. Ug, I really was not in the mood to think about this, I would simply have to tell her that I certainly liked us as long as there was you know, no…_us_.

I met her gaze to say this to her and hoped to god that she wasn't about to kill me when I felt the all too familiar buzz of a portal.

Amelie lunged across the small distance between us, buttoning up my shirt/dress that somehow had been left opened, exposing me completely, with nimble fingers at a lightning speed.

My eyes widened for fear that it might be Myrnin, who else could it be, and I could feel my cheeks flushing a furious red. I quickly muttered a quick thanks and a sheepish smile before the Mad God came storming into the room in all his deadly glory.

I gazed upon the man I loved, with his unkempt hair, flowing black coat and untied red trainers, and felt a sense of pure longing flood over me. Oh, I wanted him so badly, _needed_ him. He was my personal angel, my unwilling destroyer, my only delight. He was a solace in this frozen desert, a drop of bliss in my torment, a potent jewel of combined glee and ecstasy flying on a cloud of pure enchantment. He was mine, all mine.

"Myrnin," I murmured, reaching out towards him, begging for his gaze. He looked down at me as if I were simply one of the hundreds of humans, bewitched by his guiles, and gave a cold, brief nod, his marble features staying expressionless.

I could almost hear my heart breaking as he gave me that nod. It tore right through my chest, leaving a gaping hole the size of a fist right in the middle of me.

No, no, no, this couldn't be happening, he couldn't be rejecting me, I loved him. This was all happening much too fast. I reached out again grasping his arm, but he pulled from my grasp. The room began to tilt and spin in a mass of colors, the floor seeming to reach out and grab me, pictures of the long dead leered at me with frozen grins and the furniture began to twist of shape and spiral around in never ending fashions. My vision flashed through sparks and blackness. I couldn't lose him, not now, not after I had chose him, it couldn't!

I spun once again, attempting to ensnare him in my arms but he pushed me away and I lost my balance, stumbling backwards. Tears began pouring about of my eyes and glazing down my face in glassy rivets. I dropped to my knees, prepared to beg for his forgiveness but he pulled me up. Hope fluttered quick and deceitfully into my chest for a fleeting moment until he growled at me eyes flashing,

"Compose yourself child." For the second time my heart once again broke and I spun away, reeling as if he had slapped me, straight around into the crystal arms of Amelie, collapsing in a sobbing mess. She gently sat me up and gave me pained look.

"Claire-," she started to say, but before she could finish I dove out of her arms, knowing her words were going to betray me. I ran for the stairs but she reached out and caught me, pulling me back to her. I relaxed and let myself collapse back into now all too familiar numbness, letting oblivion begin to overtake my pain.

I stood up, absolutely mortified that I had acted that way, planning to retire to my room where I could nurse my broken heart in peace, nodding at Amelie to show her I was alright and took a few slow steps back towards the staircase, refusing to even catch a glimpse of my fallen angel.

Halfway there, something dark flashed past my vision, I turned to see what it was and was met with a blistering pain flashing trough my abdomen. I cried out in pain and crumpled to the floor, clutching my stomach.

"Claire!" a startled yell arose from behind me and someone caught as I fell but I was too much in shock to know who. I was cradled in someone's arms and someone else was helplessly screaming to do something. I didn't know what all the ruckus was about, the pain had been fleeting, I could hardly even feel it now, just a numbing sensation. Funny, whatever it was had must have knocked out my hearing too since I could plainly see someone above me screaming but no sound came. I took a weary breath and frowned slightly, this was starting to get annoying. I tried to sit up but my muscles just wouldn't work right, exhausted from the effort I settled back down waiting for the sound to come back. This was really rather boring, just sitting her waiting for god knows what. I sniffed and realized that I couldn't really smell anything either. How strange, I was seemingly in a vortex, devoid of any of the senses. My brain began to calculate exactly how this was possible but my mind seemed to be in some sort of fuzz, as if someone was damping my thought process.

_How annoying and not to mention rude for someone to simply leave me here! _

This really was becoming rather obnoxious and increasingly repetitious. Especially all those annoying people flitting above me, they were the worst of all, making all those sounds that weren't sounds.

Frustrated, I tried to look around some more and was surprised to see a pooling mass of red floating around me and also some rather disgusting guts and intestines. I cringed away in disgust and humorlessly thought,

_I'd really hate to be the one to clean that up!_

Realizing that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon I lifted my gaze back up and attempted to close my eyes and fall asleep. After a second of this I realized that this too was seemingly impossible for my eyes wouldn't close, in fact I couldn't move them at all. They were stuck staring at a bland ceiling.

_Great! Now what am I supposed to do to stop from being bored._

With a moment of satisfaction I realized I would simply have to count the dots on the tiles, much like how I did in back in grade school when we went over something I already knew.

One, two, three, four_, five…six…seven…..eight…nine…._

**Wow oh wow! What's happened to little Claire? Will she survive? And who will she chose? The newly devoted Amelie or the daunting and reckless fallen angel… Good thing all you have to do to find out is review! So go ahead, push the little review button, it's rather lonely you see and it **_**really **_**wants to be pushed! So go ahead and review, not for me but for that helpless little button right over…there! See it? Yeah go push, right now. Or I'll send Oliver for you in your sleep :[**

**Happy Hunting!**


	9. Drink Deep

**Few words about this chapter, 1) It's written mostly in third person unlike the previous chapters have been. 2) What's happening isn't actually happening and it's not a dream, though that is the closest interpretation. It's sort of like a "parallel dimension" but it's not really. 3) This is a kind of side story, a blip in the regular plot. It doesn't have a physical effect on anything, well, not much anyways.**

**The italicized words are lyrics to a song, specifically **_**Music of the Night **_**from**_** Phantom of the Opera. **_**It's not actually playing and no one is singing it, it is an echo of the mind, a kind of thought energy, like the soundtrack in a movie. It sets the tone. I might even suggest playing it as you read this, if you may be so inclined, the Franc D'Ambrosio version is really the best. **

**So read on and enjoy! I hope you love this as much as I do! R&R!**

It's wasn't dark, yet it wasn't light. It wasn't black and it wasn't white. It simply was. I couldn't "see" yet I could sense, sense the void around me. There were things, moving things, blowing past me at impossible speeds, pushing me onwards with them. They were small, particle small and they each felt different, like the many fabrics of the universe. They ran and spun, twirled and whirled, bumping into each other and into the empty space and back yet staying on a general path forwards, wherever that was.

They had a feathery light touch, like a kiss from the sun and the feeling was warm and soothing. The space around me, I didn't feel as if it was air because I wasn't breathing it, was lightly warm, like standing in a ray of sunshine on a cool autumn day, and thick like jello yet not oppressing. It was like the heat of it was caressing me, wrapping me up in a tender embrace. The feeling was comforting and familiar yet also alien and for a moment I was alarmed but the warning soon vanished, taking away all my thoughts. They were telling me, showing me, making me watch it all happen in colored flashes. It was a senseless flash of images, a twirl in no chronological time frame yet I was left with an exact understanding of order. It showed me leaving, moving, growing, living, then shooting forward, being ahead of what was and then it was all gone in a quivering flare.

I was left mindless, floating in a never ending tunnel that escaped all notions of time. I was stuck in a fragment of creation, a crack in the universe. I was everywhere and nowhere, I didn't exist yet had always existed, I beyond the realm of the universe, in a place that was beyond time. I was.

~XXXX~

She was back in that all too familiar lab. The jumbled mass of books and equipment stacked in haphazard piles around the room, on bookcases and desks and shoved in corners and grouped together in towering stacks that almost reached the ceiling was a comforting sight. Glass calcinators, alembics and retorts, filled with liquids of all colors where shoved together on desks around the many microscopes, hot plates and stands, next to masses of magnifying glasses, petri dishes, mortar and pestles, vials, cylinders, syringes, pipettes, and tongs. This mess was mixed in with several unlabeled bottles filled with chemicals of all types, and several books, scrolls, papers and drawings scattered about. This only added to the lab's messy charm. Maps and posters of strange symbols were tacked up on the wall on any free space that was available along with a mixture of designs for what appeared to be metal automatons. A broken globe was stashed in a corner and someone had left an abacus on a side table. To her it was home.

In the far corner sat an old armchair with a mismatched leather footstool at its feet. There were little tears in the arms as if someone had gripped it too tight and a large red stain on one side that I shuddered to think about. It was old but comfortable and fit well in the jumbled room. On a wooden worktable near the chair was a broken computer with the back opened up and wires and gears tumbling out and spilling into a snarled pile and next to it a cracked cylinder of glass and metal scraps bent into odd configurations.

The air smelled of bubbling chemicals, burnt parchment and the faint metallic smell of spoiled blood. She stood in the center of the room taking deep breaths, trailing her fingers over stacks of leather bound books and letting the warming feeling of comfort and familiarity wash over her in easy waves.

"Is it how you remembered it?" asked a silky smooth voice behind her. Her heart skipped a beat, not from surprise but from the longing to hear his voice again.

"Exactly the same. You really haven't changed at all have you?" she asked questioningly, her voice lilting into a flirting tone.

"Not since I met you," he said with a smile, moving behind her and placing his arms around her waist. She leaned back into him and tipped her head back to meet him in a sweet kiss.

"I've missed you, you know. It's been a long century, longer than most," he said sliding his lips down to her neck and biting softly.

"I haven't had any fun at all, I might have lost my touch," he whispered his voice low and as smooth as whiskey.

"Oh, I doubt that. I'm sure you've found some ignorant amusement," she growled bitterly.

"None at all my love," he whispered, "There is only you."

"Really?" she spun around in his arms, "An entire century alone? That's so unlike you Myr, I must have tamed the beast." He smiled in a seductive manner and let out a warm chuckle.

"No one could accomplish that, love," Myrnin said with another quirky smile, that deadly sparkle returning to his dark eyes.

"Oh, how you wish," Myrnin's love said. He raised his eyebrows and twirled her in a small circle.

"You mean, oh, how I know," Myrnin whispered darkly into her ear, pulling her in tight, "Stay with me."

"Don't be silly Myr," she let out a ringing laugh, "Of course I'll stay with you. Where else would I go, hmm?"

"No," he spun her once again to stare directly into her eyes, "Stay with me, forever." He whispered the last word, hesitating before he said it as if he were afraid to. She stared back into his eyes, searching for a break in his sincerity, trying to find the joke. There was none.

"Oh Myr, you can't possibly mean…" she trailed off, not being able to finish the sentence.

"Dance with me," he whispered, back in that seductive voice, pulling her into a series of twirls and gliding away.

"Myrnin," she said with frustrated groan.

"Shush," he whispered, "Dance."

_Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation_

_Darkness stirs and wakes imagination_

_Silently the senses abandon all defenses_

_Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor_

_Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender_

_Turn your face away from the garish light of day_

_Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light_

_And listen to the music of the night_

He spun her once more, and deftly reached out and switched off the lights, plunging the room into darkness spare one small candle that was seemingly floating on a nearby table. She gasped at her sudden blindness and grasped him by the shoulders, a question forming on her lips. He gently quieted her with a single, small kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulled her into a slow dance of soft, even movements. She leaned into him, content, and allowed him twirl her round and round in dizzying, breathless circles. Her white dress billowed out around her as she spun and whirled, looking ghostlike in the pale light. She danced back into his arms, lightly moving her hips against his and turning the innocent dance into something more intimate.

_Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams_

_Purge all thoughts of the life you knew before_

_Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar_

_And you live as you've never lived before_

She could almost feel it, how they would be in a hundred years, in two hundred, in three. She could relive this moment until the ends of time, never leaving her love, never worrying about the time. It was honestly magical and extraordinary, fantastical and wonderful, it was truly beautiful, yet cataclysmically terrible at the same time. She couldn't afford to think like that, it was just plain wrong, it went against nature. Oh, but he, in all his maniacal glory, was just so plain perfect, so magnificently perfect. But it was still wrong.

The real dance began.

_Softly, deftly, music shall caress you_

_Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you_

_Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind_

_In this darkness that you know you cannot fight_

_The darkness of the music of the night_

She moved to leave, shaking her head at him and sashaying away from his grasp to head towards the door. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes and she blinked to clear them but they would not go away. She knew she shouldn't stay yet that was all she longed to do. As she fled, her lover reached out, catching her fingertips with his and gently pulling her back into his cold embrace. He gazed at her, understanding her pain and lightly brushed away her tears with a soft smile.

_Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world_

_Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before_

_Let your soul take you where you long to be_

_Only then can you belong to me_

His loving smile broke her will to flee and she once again spun at his command dancing in deep, caressing movements all the while never breaking her sultry gaze with his.

_Floating, falling, sweet intoxication_

_Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation_

_Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in_

_To the power of the music that I write_

_The power of the music of the night_

He pulled her back into one last embrace before the dance ended and they were left with only each other. He didn't need to speak to convey his feelings, he loved her and he wanted her to be his forever, that wasn't going to change. She was still hesitant in her decision but he had enchanted her from the very beginning and now his wily charms had enticed her even further, something had changed. She knew she would have him until her death but staying mortal would only kill him and she couldn't do that.

He was truly her everything, her sun and stars. She needed him as a drowning man needs air, she couldn't bear to hurt him. Besides, the idea of forever to study and learn, to experience at the perfect age, to never physically age was beyond tempting, only her deeply threaded morals got in her way.

She closed her eyes and for once thought only with her heart and not her brain, she knew she would regret declining, it now seemed as if there never was any other option then to be with him, to stay.

_You alone can make my song take flight_

_Help me make the music of the night_

She turned and leaned her back against him, letting her body and not her expression convey her emotion.

"Yes," she whispered as softly as a lark.

His hands slid up from her waist to carefully encircle her neck and gently tug her head to the side. She felt his light breath and thrummed at the sensation, filling up with the feeling of pure excitement and joy, not a single whisper of fear swirling by.

Without hesitation he sank his glistening fangs into her neck, drinking deep. She gasped and collapsed into him, falling into the dreaming void.

~XXXX~

I woke up screaming, a blistering pain ripping through my middle as hot as the center of the sun. I wanted to die.

**This is most definitely my favorite chapter. I was actually considering posting this as oneshot and changing the beginning and ending a bit (still might) but I didn't so you're welcome. I really enjoyed writing this as it was something I had dreamed about doing for quite some time now, as you may have noticed I haven't updated in awhile, my sincerest apologies, and I was very content at finally getting it all out. I must say I am extremely proud of this chapter and if you only review once in your life I am begging that it is to this chapter. I honestly love it. So do me a HUGE favor and share this with everyone you know, if you think it's good that is, and whoever can get me the most reviews can decide just what is going to happen in the next chapter or can request that I write another fanfic about anything I know and with any pairing. (I'd LOVE to do a Doctor Who one!:D) Thank you for taking the time to read this and I really hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks!**

**Love and tacos,**

**Evey Claire**


	10. That one sound

**Hello once again! I must start off by saying that I had absolutely no friggin idea with what I really wanted to happen after last chapter and so this one was trying to find some middle ground. Not my all time best but I still hope it's worthy for ya'll! I'm hoping that you'll like me writing from Myrnin's POV…I'm not 100% sure this is really how he thinks or if it even does him justice, but I just had to try! Also on a side note I quite writing this story, for like 4 months! Buuuuuut the other day I saw that I had written a chapter 10 and never posted it so here it is, freshly written 4 months ago! And I will be continuing this story to the end!**

**Myrnin's POV!**

Her scream broke my heart.

It was the most ear piercing, gut wrenching, most animalistic scream I had ever heard, and I've heard a lot. But screams are screams and even though this one came from the one I love, that wasn't the worst part of it. It was that the scream sounded entirely inhuman and mixed with the way her body twisted and writhed on the floor… I gagged and looked away, attempting to compose myself.

I couldn't push away the image from my mind, nor the sound, but that was most likely because she was still screaming, not that I could forget that.

But what was I doing? I needed to be saving her, not worrying about my addled mind! I whipped back around and went to kneel by her side, desperately trying to think of something that would save her. Oh, but the body was so mangled, so ruined.

As I spun around I realized I had made a huge mistake. Unnoticed before, perhaps because of the noise, was the blood. The splatter of sanguine blood was everywhere, soaking into the wood, pooling in a deep puddle, splashed against the walls, against Amelie, against me.

I may no longer have been mad with sickness but that much blood, so openly everywhere was hard to deny myself of and I found myself once again in a mental battle against my bloodlust. Sinking to the ground, I gripped it tightly leaving behind finger shaped gouges. The blood poured over my hands dying them red and only furthering my thirst. I snarled, fangs slipping out and reached for her throat.

A white blur lunged for me, shoving me to the side and landed on top of me. Cold, pale hands wrapped around my neck and I found myself staring at glaring, grey eyes.

"No, Myrnin! Regain control of yourself!" she hissed, eyes wild yet still commanding. She held me there until she was sure I had regained enough sanity to control my hunger. Her movements staggered, she crawled back to the sleeping Claire and pulled her unmoving head into her messy lap, sobbing and moaning, losing all her icy regency and gaining a real fragility that was breathtaking.

Only as I crawled over to the source of the mess did I realize that the screaming had long since stopped and only a deafening silence remained. At that exact same moment I realized my little bird was dead.

"C-C-Claire," I stuttered out, sinking to my knees, "Claire…Claire, please Claire, please please, please, don't die, Claire, please, don't be dead."

It didn't matter what I said, deep down I knew that, she was dead. Stone, cold dead and in such a wrecked state that not even a cursed immortality could save her. But no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this was impossible. She couldn't be dead, where was I without her. Her warmth, her smiles, her little beating heart, all those quirky things she did when a sudden thought over took her, how her emotions were always so evident no matter how much she tried to hide them and that beautiful way she looked at me; those were things I couldn't live without.

Amelie reached over lightly touching my shoulder and whispered quiet words of comfort, telling me that it would all be fine, we would live on.

But I didn't want to.

That thought hit me like a literal slap to the face, Claire had saved my life and it just wasn't fair that she couldn't live while I could. She was my only reason left, everything else I had destroyed with my uncontrolled bloodlust. I had ruined everything good that came into my life and the one time I managed to keep my darker side hidden beneath and the cruel, cruel life takes it away unprovoked. But, no, oh, no. Her death was my entire fault, punishment for the crimes I had committed against so many, life's way of keeping the balance, causing me the pain I had caused against the public. I had never understood the panic I had caused but now I certainly did.

I had never understood when people said they needed air but I suddenly was gasping for it, a strangled moan ripped through my throat. I truly felt dead.

Now standing, I ran from the room, gliding down the stairs and silently pushing past a stunned Eve.

"What's going on?" she yelled, bewildered. I simply kept on moving, not even given a second thought as to whether I should answer her. Out the door, into the night, down the porch, across the lawn, through the streets, into the lab, I was running in circles. Ripping open door after heartless door, pawing through hundreds of bent-out pieces of cold, unfeeling metal, twisted, randomly colored wires and switches and gears in every shape and size, it had to be in here somewhere.

The voices, the taunting voices were back to laugh at my scattered efforts. I collapsed on the floor shaking, ripping my nails through my skin, screaming at them to stop the merciless talkings, laughings, lies.

**The End! Or at least the end of this chapter! Jeez I just realized how longs it's been since I last updated and may I convey my sincerest apologies, also because I know that this one's kind of short and all but more is on the way and by on the way I mean up by Friday! So rejoice! And how did I do with Myrnin's POV? REVIEW or is it comment now? Anyways spill your thoughts!**


	11. In more Circles

**Chapter 11. Eve and Amelie.**

**Eve.**

Myrnin, or at least what I thought was Myrnin, blew past me at that speed that only vampires could accomplish.

"What's going on?" I asked, scared because well when you hear screams and see vampires running nothing good is happening, "Myrnin! What the hell?"

By the time my sentence was finished he was long gone. I turned around trying, and failing, to get his attention and was very much startled to see a bloody handprint left behind on the wall. Oh fuck.

_Claire._

"CLAIRE! CB!" I screamed, pounding up the stairs, my heart racing and this terrible feeling making knots deep in my stomach. Nearing the top I slipped, looked down and…

_Oh My God. Blood._

My hand shot out, catching the railing just in time before I tumbled down the stairs. My shin hit the step with an audible _thunk_ and pain coursed through my leg, but I barely felt it. That was a lot of blood, too much blood.

"Claire!" I screamed again, louder now, running faster than I thought possible. Now reaching the final landing, I spun around the corner, gripping the banister for support and sprinted down the hallway to the door to the secret room which had been left ajar.

_Not again, oh God please, not again. _

My head was chanting worried thoughts now and I was so preoccupied I almost missed the dead bodies lying at base of the steps.

Vampires, Amelie's personal guards by the looks of it. Both had been decapitated in a brutal way with the necks all broken and jagged. My hand covered my mouth, muffling a scream and barely stopping myself from puking.

Staggering up the steps now, trying to avoid slipping on the inky pools of blood while being half blind by mascara stained tears, I didn't see Amelie until I ran into her.

She was blocking my way, standing there, frozen almost and not in her usual manner. Her eyes were frantic, scared, and blood was spattered across her customary white clothes and had created a sticky coating over her hands. She was sobbing slightly, the tears trickling down from her eyes and her chest was heaving in panic and apprehensive emotion. Her hair was down and that too was red with blood, pink in some areas and was in a matted mess. All these things made her appearance fractured and very un-Amelie, but the strangest thing was that she was barefoot. Miss Proper, the Queen of Civility and Etiquette was absolutely, completely, totally without shoes. That stupid, little, insignificant detail was what scared me the most.

_Why the hell would Amelie be barefoot?_

"Stop," she said, her voice shaking slightly, ringing with a very human-like tremble. That scared me too.

"Oh God, Amelie, what's wrong? What happened? What happened to Claire? What did Myrnin do? What did you do? Dear Lord, Tell me that she's alright! She's fine, isn't she? It's just a scratch right? It's not her blood, is it?" I asked, my own terror rising and sending me into sheer frenzy. The questions came pouring out of me in a jumbled fall for never, not once in all my time in Morganville, not when I found out that Oliver was a vampire, not when Frank's biker friend cut Michael's head off, not when Bishop showed up at our house, not when I watched sweet, innocent Sam die, not when my brother stabbed Shane and not one single time when Shane had gone crazy and tried to kill my boyfriend, had I been this afraid because never, not once had Amelie been this afraid. Amelie _never_ lost her cool, that was kinda her thing, and I knew that if she had we were in for the scariest ride of our lives.

**Amelie. **

I sat there, holding what remained of her lifeless body in my arms, and cried. I actually, truly cried. Not sobs or a few glassy tears, but streams and streaks and canals of tears racing down my face. This was not pretty crying, this was nothing-being-held-back crying and I was sure it looked very unlike me.

I wasn't used to this. I was old, very old and a vampire, a combination that was cause for callousness. I didn't _feel_ like this, I was incapable of it, or so I thought.

The pain itself was considerable and was something that I welcomed. It was like someone was tearing at my chest and stomach, trying to yank me down and I felt like I was choking on air as I desperately tried to stop the oncoming rush of tears that seemed like a never-ending waterfall. I wasn't made for this, this, this utter break-down, this total collapsing of walls that I had spent centuries perfecting.

Sam, oh my lovely Sam. He had been my first test in a very long time and I had won, so to speak. I had pushed through, acted like it never hurt and carried on my habitual routine. Well, except at that point at his grave, that was the only time I had broken down at all and the mental pain had been too much to bear. It was better to not think of it at all, better, easier to lie. I had been ignoring him for half a century and there was no need to suddenly feel so wrecked and abandoned by his recent departure. But I had been. That was the problem, the reason why I had to shove those silver coins in my wrists. I hadn't actually been attempting to commit suicide, I had just need the pain to see clearly, to prove that my mind was playing tricks on me. It hadn't worked.

I had been sitting there for hours before she and her friends had arrived, trying to reacquaint myself with myself. Thinking, meditating for hours and _nothing_. I had been thinking in circles for hours with only one conclusion coming into my head. I was feeling human emotions.

My father had tauntingly told me that I would, that every vampire does. That we all get to this point where we have spent so long being cold and ruthless and so damn practical that we do stupid things like fall in love, and ridiculous things like care. We get to a point when our flawlessly tuned vampire emotions flee us and we have a sudden pang of longing for what we once were. He told me that this was the turning point where true, strong vampires embraced their existence and weak pathetic ones faded away into nothingness. It was nature's way of disposing of the weak and fortifying the strong, Survival of the Fittest: Vampire Version.

I'm intelligent, this being one of the major factures in why I am able to keep grasp of my position and keep absolute control of my vampires and yes, they are _my_ vampires, all of them. My intelligence of course led me not only to remember the cruel words of my father, but to come to the conclusion that I was wrong and that I had been taking an attempt on my life, something which I had never attempted before, never even thought of for the most fleeting of moments no matter how miserable I had been. I had become weak.

A queen could never be weak.

I couldn't stay queen.

Well, unless of course I forgot this brainless endeavor and what's the phrase humans use nowadays?...manned up.

This led to a rather, abrupt change in my attitude and I quickly, desperately, attempted to merge together my scrambled emotions and return to my former vigor, but it was too late. Oliver had already picked up on my weakness and had formulated a plan, a plan that had worked, if only momentarily, and I could never forget it. Seeing him was a constant reminder of what I lost, of what I could still lose. I began to hate him.

This hate had led to my…fascination with…Cl-…with her, with the dead girl in my arms.

I knew I couldn't truly love again, not that unconditional and still passionate kind that I had felt with Sam. That love was the love of fairy tales and was only available once a lifetime. But as I had found out, not loving was much different from not caring and I _cared_ for Claire, I cared for Claire a lot.

That's another reason why this time was worse than the last. When you love someone so much you almost prepare yourself for the day you lose them because you know you will never die at exactly the same second, that if even for the most miniscule of moments you will one day find yourself without them. With Claire I had been completely unprepared, I hadn't even been prepared to care in the slightest.

That day when I had lost myself and had returned three years prior was the day I found my lost strength.

I had forgotten what it was like to be me, to make the decisions I had made, to rule as I had. I had been lost in a sea of love and pain and regret and things I shouldn't have been dawdling in. I remembered and I acted. This was the cause of how "cold" I had been accused of being lately. For as long as Claire had known me, for as long as any still alive human has known me I had been in a weakened state, a…_human_ state, and the sudden change scared the well, _humans._

But Claire, she had cut through my old self too and now I found nothing to lean back on, I was on the edge of a cliff, staring down my demise.

Still choking on tears I heard the distant sounds of who I assumed to be Eve's combat boots and her frantic and chilling screams for Claire.

_Amelie you are a queen. You are an example for all. You alone set the bar. You are what they rely on, without you they would be lost, terrified and confused. You know that, the vampire's know that even the ignorant humans secretly know that you are the only reason they still remain alive and well. You can pull through. You are a good queen. _

Standing up, I brushed my skirt hoping to remove dirt but only creating messy streaks of blood. I pulled my hair up, over one should and set my face, trying to keep it emotionless, _my Founder face._

Knowing I still hadn't completely composed myself I did my duty and prevented Eve from receiving a gruesome view of her disemboweled friend.

"Stop."

**Thanks for bearing with my guys! Hope you liked it! Don't forget about reviewing or I might take another 4 month break! :DDDD**

**More love and tacos,**

**Evey Claire**


	12. The Machine

**Chapter 12. I'm not quite sure I believe it….**

**And I've been terrible about updating… My sincerest apologies!**

**Myrnin.**

The voices had stopped for awhile now, but I was afraid to move, afraid that if I moved they would know I was alive and they would come back. No, it was much better to stay still, to stay play-dead.

_Claire._

Her name brought back shocking bolts that seared into me, it made me remember. How could I ever even forget? She was everything, my literal everything. I loved her with all my dead heart. I had even told her that much. Why didn't she say anything? Why wasn't she responding?

I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, CLAIRE, I LOVE YOU! I shouted over and over and over. Why wasn't she answering? I loved her! Why couldn't she love me?

Oh right, because she was dead.

_Claire. I love you. I love you, Claire. I'll save you. I promise._

I uncurled myself from my little ball and pulled my bloodied fingers out of my torn hair. I could tell I was a mess, but I really couldn't care less. I had to find what I was looking for. I was convinced that this was the only thing that could save her, could save that mutilated, destroyed body. Images flashed back into my mind, her leaving, heading for the stairs, a dark, black flash moving fast, too fast for even my vampire eyes to see and then red, blood red, red blood, red roses, she was dead.

Where was it? Where was that goddamned machine? It was small, so small. Why did I have to make it so small? Ah, so many questions, so little answers, too much time, too much love. When had life become this complicated?

In a box, in a drawer, around the corner and behind the door, it was nowhere. Gone. Vanished. Dead. NO! It had to be somewhere! I wouldn't lose it, couldn't lose it! It just as tied to me as Claire was. Oh _Claire_, oh poor sweet, innocent Claire!

I mourned for a moment, shaking with grief. Too much emotion, I'd always had it and I always would. It would kill me. Eventually.

But not today and not as long as I had Claire! Which I didn't now, but I would and soon! Grr, rawr, bite, I wanted to bite. Where was it? Why did it have to be so damn small? Oh, wait. It wasn't small, not at all! It was big, huge even, almost as big as Ada's machine. _Ada._

I distinctly remember what it felt like to lose her the first time and the second even more sharply. It had been terrible, _painful, _agonizing in ways that were unknown to almost all because so few had ever caused it. Few had lost control of that madness that hunger and killed someone so loved, so cherished. Sure, it had been an accident, but not in the way that mattered. I had ripped her open with _my_ hands, _my _teeth. I had killed her and hadn't cared, not for hours, not for days until Amelie came to find me.

I think that's the first time that she was truly afraid of the disease. Before it had been real enough, sure, but only a nuisance, a flitting bug to swat at. It had been years away from destroying anything and vampires are simply terrible at planning for the distant future. Until then it had been a distant future.

I swayed and leaned against the table, momentarily losing myself to the past. Pasts were awful things! It had always been my deepest advice not to have one. Best to forget, to move on, to grow in a sense. Remember the lessons and forget the teacher. Argh, _pasts!_ Who needed them?

Well they were certainly good at reminded, good at reminding pain. _Pain._

_Claire!_

I need to work, work faster, find. Find that machine thing-y. Now where was it? Big, yes. It was large, it was _commodious. _Which made perfectly perfect sense because you were, well, _in_ it. Well, sort of.

Aha! I found a key of sorts that really wasn't a key.

_BTGD, LTGU. _

Well what did that mean? B,B,B…B, B,B,b,b,b,b,B,B! Yes, B, Big! As in, big things go down. Down down down down, _always _down. So down I went, ripping at the carpet covering the entrance to the basement and grinding my teeth while I waited for the hand scanner to go, then jumping, falling, landing, running.

Moving past the really big machine with all its lovely clacks and clanks, I headed towards the back, looking for a hidden door. I spotted it without much looking, I did put it there myself after all, and attempted to open it and OW!

Silver handle. Smart for me, stupid for me, pain for all. Except those pesky humans, nothing worked on them. Well, except for bullets. Those tended to work with rather satisfying results!

Covering my hand with my sleeve I again tugged on the door, relying on my surprising strength to wrench it open. Inside it was dark and dusty and cobwebs hung from every nook and cranny. I held out my fingers to a frightened spider that hung from the rafters and reminded me so much of dear Bob, but it skittered off into the shadows and out of sight.

The state of the room was decay, which really didn't bother me much since my lab went through several phases of it, and most of it contents fit right along with it. All the junk shoved into crumbling heaps and dirty, muddy puddles of disintegrated mass. All except for a shining metal box that shone like diamond among rocks, glowing almost, in the center of the room.

The box was about seven feet in height, just large enough to stand in and about ten feet long and two feet wide. A metal grate closed off the inside of it, but you could see through to the paraphernalia inside.

On one end was an engine of sorts, filled with bubbling green liquid that oozed and burped in a disgusting way and held cables and wire in all sorts of shapes and colors. They were all connected to the center which was magnum hot, kept at the perfect temperature to turn the gold bars that had been placed in there centuries ago into a molten syrup that rose and fell as if pushed by an unseen tide. The other end held a massive control table full of knobs and bronze gears that were purely for looks of course! In between were five red velvet seats that I had stolen from a king some eight hundred years ago in France, I believe. He hadn't been a very good one. Amelie hated him, killed him.

I ripped open the grate without pause and sat down in the seat closest to the control panel and pulled a lever on my right. The machine hummed to life under me and emitted a welcoming whir.

Yes, yes, yes, YES! It was working! It would work! It was going to work! Everything was going to be fine and I was going to save Claire. Again!

**I apologize that I haven't updated in awhile and I know this chapter is rather short. Sorry.**

**And ha, I'm evil! Leaving you with this cliffhanger! Whoever correctly guesses what this machine is get's to request a oneshot! **

**And please review! Really it's honestly not that hard and I'll really appreciate it! Review and I'll have Myrnin come visit you in the night (wink wink!) **

**Peace, love and tacos and Myrnin!**


	13. Revelations

**Eve**

Amelie stood blocking my path in her fragmented state with a look in her eyes that told me everything. Everything I didn't want to know.

"What-" I stopped, my voice breaking. I already knew what had happened. "She's dead isn't she." It wasn't a question. I _knew. _

This time, somehow, was worse, way worse, than the first time and I stumbled back, stunned. I felt numb, cold. It didn't feel real... yet. It was like a nightmare, just another stupid nightmare that had haunted my dreams for years now. I couldn't accept this as reality. It had already happened, she was fine now. This was all just a dream.

Amelie nodded her head in a brief, curt nod and then... lost it. She slumped down, grasping the banister with all her strength and fell to the ground in an ungraceful heap, sobbing and choking with tears. "Amelie?" I called out, afraid to approach her. Her head shot up to stare at me with wild eyes that held such pain. "Amelie!" I was yelling at her now, begging her to get up. No, no, no, no! It had to be a dream!

But it wasn't.

I too collapsed, crying uncontrollably. Not Claire, not again! I was crying too hard to see, all my sarcasm and wit gone. I had nothing to left to protect me; my usual goth armour felt only like a useless facade.

I was helpless, _hopeless_. It was much too obvious now that Claire wasn't going to magically spring up as a ghost this time; this was really the true end of her. _I knew!_

Leaving a still sobbing Amelie, I fled the stairs, running straight for the front door only pausing to grab my keys before I was out and down the street, almost into my car.

I had seen Claire for the last time.

**Myrnin**

Still vibrating with my sudden on take of euphoria, I was soaring above everything, buzzing on an emotional high that I so often found in the other direction. So sad down things are, so boring. Too much pressure. Too much pressure up. The world's difficult.

The machine kept alive beneath me, making a rather pleasant purr of whirs and clicks and snaps and the popping sounds of boiling chemicals. Home. I suddenly remember the pet name I had so appropriately appointed to my little pet project. Home. Because that's what she was really. A way home. To my home. My real one. My old one. Back to a time of training and leaning and being. Such a nice state. Leaning. Teaching is much too hard. Always best to stick with learning. Learning never did anyone much harm... well except death. But perhaps one should be more careful with the knowledge they learn. Tsk, Tsk, such disrespect for the master.

I almost left right then and there. It was ready, ready to fly in a manner, er, at least ready to run. I could go back and get her right now if I wanted.

Ahh, best not to forget my mistress. She would be quite angered if I left her behind, what's the saying? Ladies first? No? Well, she must go, must come with. Time-tock, ticking fast. Running, losing, tripping, falling. NOW! No, my mistress must stay her anger for surely she will understand the urgency of leaving now! I love her, I love my little Claire. Love comes first. So great is love it must come first. But no!

I staggered out of the machine, nervously rubbing my eyes; out of habit of course. I needed to get Amelie. I couldn't leave without her. Besides I believe I could do her quite a favour that she might intensely appreciate. She's been so kind to me, has put up with so much. I must pay her back. That's the only way to be free of her. I don't like being in debt to someone. She has saved me.

Payment doesn't matter. I love Claire. I need to get to her! Screw rational.

I was pacing now, something I always did when I was on the verge of a pure manic state. That didn't bode all too well. For all possible ways I was cured of this Bishop virus that made me lose all control at sporadic rate, but it didn't cure the monster within, the disease I was born with.

Vampires are purely physical beings. Most think that because of our enhanced minds it's a mental thing, but see, the brain is a physical thing. All things are physical. Even ideas. Vampires, _vampirism_, isn't mental. Just physical. Can't cure what doesn't exist. I don't. I do. Where's Claire? Where's Amelie? We need to find her soon. NOW!

**Amelie**

Eve had left me, something I relished and despised at the same time. I wanted my space to mourn of course, but the human feel, the presence, the _warmth_ was always a welcoming thing. So happy, so bright, so alive they were. They were everything I am not. I envied them. We all did.

I was still a crumpled mess; ruined clothes, disarrayed hair, broken nails and blood, blood, blood. Blood in my hair, blood on my clothes, blood on my skin, in my mouth, soaking beneath me on the hard wooden floor. I hated blood, hated the mess it made. Well no, I didn't hate it, just hated the mess.

I sighed. All this feeling and crying and being so emotional wasn't going to get me anywhere. I was a disaster and I had much more to do than sit for hours and mourn over Claire and something I couldn't control.

I jumped up at that moment, overtaken with a sudden thought, What the hell had happened to Claire?

I couldn't believe that all my hazed fear and pain had allowed me to so completely forget what killed her in the first place, or rather the fact that I had no idea what could have killed her, could have destroyed her so quickly and brutally.

My first thoughts were at Oliver, that he believed by assassinating her he might gain something, but that was quickly ruled out as I realized that I hadn't heard and single thing, hadn't smelt any scents, hadn't felt a stirring or a portal opening. All of a sudden _something_ killed my poor, sweet, innocent, _dead_ Claire. Why Claire? I could've actually loved her maybe. Maybe not. I was never good with love.

What we had done washed over me and I began to really sort out coherent thoughts instead of a whirling and twirling mass of pain that grinded against my mind as sharp as glass. I had acted brashly and without reason, partially to prove to Myrnin that she was mine and that I could exert that power in any way I wished, but also based on an adolescent wondering and fascinating that had been haunting me since I had melt the strange, brilliant girl with the red hair.

And now she was gone.

And I had absolutely no idea what had happened.

None at all.

But she was dead and gone and I couldn't afford to continue this brash and reckless behaviour that obviously had caused a serious effect of a amnesia on me, something I and my people could not benefit from. No matter how much I was hurting I still had affairs to look after and certainly Claire's death was a tragedy, but focus must go into finding what killed her and eliminating a perceived threat, if that's what it really was.

Oh god and that was the last thing that I wanted to do. All I wanted was to hold Claire in my arms and tell her that I could protect her and that I really did care and that no matter how callous I have acted it's only the mandatory side of me that comes with my position. I really cared for Claire and now, like all my distant loves and memories, was a thing of the past and gone.

I sighed again, out of human habit for external emotion and retreated back into my bleak thoughts. Slinking back into a slouched sitting position I figured I could afford to forget the rest of the world for a few more hours.

~XXX~

At a later time I was unaware of a hand shook me awoke.

"Amelie! Amelie! We need to go. It's solved, it's fixed! Depart! NOW!" Myrnin called to me, rudely shoving me into the harsh reality of being awake and aware. My heart ached for Claire.

"What Myrnin? I don't-I can't- I- I don't have time for another one of your useless experiments. I have things that need accomplishing," I said rather sharply and without real reason beside that I wanted to drift back to a fake realm.

"No Amelie, I'm up-DOWN! I'm down, I went down. It was there, we can work use! It works and well that's all really," Myrnin blathered on like a total fool, barely being able to form a single organized thought. I pushed myself up off the cold hard wood, now sticky with old blood and focused on the ragged face of my old and dear friend. My only trustworthy ally left.

He was in that manic state that I had come to recognize as him coming on to something, of that brilliant mind sparking into full inferno. He was almost literally glowing, _vibrating_ with an unseen energy that wound around the entire universe. It was from this look that I always gained hope. Once he had this look I knew deep in my soul that everything would be alright because Myrnin had the answer to the problem. I dreaded the day when he couldn't solve one. That would really be quite an end, as much of an end as an immortal can have. A figure of speech that was really. I love his hope. It's so adorably human of him.

"Myrnin, be still and put words to it," I stated calmly.

**So um that chapter 13. And I really apologize for the big break again, but I'm studying for my PSAT's so I have a fuck ton of work to get done! Wish me luck! Oh and if you want me to finish this story than REVIEW IT! Because honestly I think I deserve it! Lol, just kidding. I probably don't, but do it anyway because you love me oh so much!**

**Peace, love, tacos, Myrnin and Richard Ayoade and peaches.**

**XXXX**

**P.S. For some odd reason I flipped the X and E keys on my computer so that every time I try to put in XXXX I instead get EEEE and have to delete and remind myself of my stupidity...**


	14. Little White Cat and Black Leather Hat

**Chapter 14...yikes! And where are all my reviewers? I miss you guys!**

**Amelie**

"We've got to go!" Myrnin practically screamed at me. I forced myself with great strength not to slap him. He looked to be on to that hope again, that hope that was almost too much to bear for I had already given up.

"Myrnin I don't understand! Go where?" I yelled at him now, fed up with all the distractions and energy. Claire was dead and most likely it was probably my fault.

"The machine, the thing- no not that one! The other! I fixed it, well found it/fixed it. Same thing! Past and present and future! They're all happening now, can't you feel it! It's history making time!"Myrnin was bouncing up and down like a child now, about to explode with the mere concept of what he had created. I almost really did slap him then until I remembered.

Remembered that night so long ago.

When the rain was falling like glass.

And the city was silent, more silent than any city could be now.

The dark nights, the bubbled excitement.

I remember.

"The time machine," I whispered. Immediately I clamped my hand over my mouth. That thought gave too much hope; there were simply too many things to be undone. "I thought you said it wouldn't work, that the experiment failed."

"Umm..." Myrnin looked away nervously, his fingers ideally tapping against his side. I laughed. It was bitter yet real. The first real laugh I've had in awhile.

Myrnin gave me a strange look and I only could shrug my shoulders. To think that whom I had so carefully guarded was so carefully moving past my every protection. My most trusted friend was keeping such secrets.

"Well I mostly forget... or something. Oh wait, something to do with undoing time and paradoxes and well I'm not really sure... I don't-well not exactly- I don't um, understand time as a dimension all that well. Too many variables." He looked even more nervous now and I almost laughed again at Myrnin not understanding something.

"None of that matters now... Will it work?" I asked, actually holding my breath back in for his response.

"I honestly believe it will," he answered. My heart leapt. It leapt _miles._

That was all I ever needed to hear.

~XXXXXX~

We raced into the basement of the laboratory, past doors and hallways and corridors that wound around like dead snakes and had long since been forgotten. I almost couldn't contain my excitement; to return to my past! So many times and places and events and people... Sam... oh Sam... I could see Sam...

No, I mustn't get ahead of myself. It may not work, we may not even go back far enough, or no, I just must not think too far ahead. Myrnin had better be right.

We slipped around a corner, past the machine that used to hold Myrnin's lover, down a dark corridor with old stone bricks that dripped filthy water. I shuddered at the familiar feeling it brought and pushed on. Even running at almost full speed, it was taking minutes to reach the room that I had closed off so long ago. I had simply forgotten the miles of mazes down here that served their own purpose entirely.

Finally ahead I could hear a faint humming noise and a dim, blinking light that flashed red, green, blue. That must be it. As we dashed into the room I stopped dead in my tracks.

It was beautiful.

No, not the actual mechanical shell that was held by spinning gears and colourful wires, or the ornately decorated seats and control panel, but the sheer _energy _of it. It felt _alive!_ It felt like it was more than a simple way to access the past, the present, the future. It _was_ the past, the present, the future and it all was coming, spinning along together into a spectrum of emotions and feeling and events. Every single moment was pressed into the space of the engine of such a machine _and it was beautiful._

"Come on," Myrnin whispered, pulling me out of my trance. I stared blankly at him with glazed eyes. He was brilliant. He, a simple person, immortal or not, had somehow accessed all of time. I felt the sudden urge to apologize for the great and many wrongs I had done to him, apologize for all the times when I took him for granted and never appreciated all that he's, never said thank you. All the times I turned a blind eye to his pain and grief and wrote him off as bothersome mad man that needed locking up. I needed to voice my sorrow that I had never even treated him as a true equal, never saw him for what he truly was... brilliant and _beautiful. _The machine was him.

"Myrnin I-," I started, tears welling up in my eyes, making my vision go blurry and my throat clench, but he cut me off.

"Amelie, not now. I see, I understand. We don't have time. You're forgiven. _I _forgive _you._ Now focus!" he said gently and with force and firmly reached out and grabbed onto my arm, steadying me. "Are you ready?"

I could only manage a brief nod before he picked me, something might have astonished me had my mind not been blurred, jumped onto the machine, that every time portal, sat me down on a rather comfortable pair of seats, told me to hold on and furiously started pressing buttons and pulling down levers until the world turned black and spun and I couldn't tell up from down.

~XXXXX~

Both Amelie and Myrnin were far too tired, far too broken and hungry and far too emotional at what was surrounding them to notice the man in the black leather coat and hat grimly watching them from the deep shadows. They didn't notice when began to stalk forward with his newly turned assistant and they certainly didn't notice when his fingers barely brushed the outside of the machine fleeting moments before they left this time for quite a long while. They never noticed at all.

The man in the black leather coat and hat was far too preoccupied to notice the white cat with gray eyes watching him from another corner. He never noticed it at all.

The cat smiled.

**I'd say I'm sorry this chapter's short, but I'm not. PLEASE REVIEW! Pretty, pretty, pretty please! I'll give you cookies! No scratch that! Give me 10 reviews and you'll get another chapter! But not before! Eleventh reviewer get's to request a oneshot. **

**Peace, love, tacos, Richard Ayoade (you're welcome Riley) peaches, David Tennant, the new Iphone 5, fish fingers and custard!**

**Love you all! (well those of you that review anyways!)**

**XXXX**

**Evey Claire**


	15. Anit-Time

**Hey guys... Um yeah so this is chapter 15! Yay! Happy Birthday or something! So yep... um oh yeah! I did this section at the end where it's just dialogue and it's kinda weird and I kinda like it so deal. But send me lots of opinions! I love those! Oh and pretty please stop asking me what killed Claire. Because you don't know yet, because I haven't told you... and I will tell you in future chapters because if I tell you now it won't make sense... Get it? So yeah here it is!**

What is time? What determines it? What makes it relative? Is it relative? Do you need it? Does it really exist? Try flying through it. Try existing. Try being. Try Time. I dare you.

~XXXX~

**Amelie**

It was a strange sensation, not existing. It was similar to that weightlessness of a portal, but lacked the familiar strands of life moving through. This was just pure blackness, _untraveled_ blackness. We were going somewhere that had never been explored, true pioneers on a journey through an unknown dreamscape. That's what it really felt like, a dreamscape, a netherland.

Despite the fact that I was still firmly seated in a chair, it felt as if we were dissolving into one. Boundaries no longer existed where they had before and where I could no longer see in this blackness, I could feel all sorts of things. There was a feeling of movement, of rushing blindly at exhilarating speeds, and I was moving faster and faster and faster and I was becoming one with the movement, both so still we were revolving in each other arms. Me and time. Time and me. How perfectly strange.

I had an urge to reach over to Myrnin, to see him, and to ask him what he was feeling, to ask him if he had a clever name and explanation for what this was, but there was nothing to see and I could make no sounds. I suddenly panicked, frightened that I was going to be stuck in this gel-like existence forever. Perhaps I was already dead and this was the sad truth of what waited.

Alas, that couldn't be. I could feel the edges of whatever I was in pressing in around me and I knew that if it got in, then I would be dead. I could feel the tugging on my soul, begging me to dissolve even more completely and surrender into the never ending dark. I felt the fear of losing my soul from my body. Therefore I was still startlingly alive.

I tried exhaling in an instinct of relief, but was unable. It was like the air was hitting a stone wall in my throat and could not be forced out. The same went for when I tried to inhale. I was sucking in air that wasn't air and it was hitting a stopper before entering into dead lungs. My mind wandered as I sat with four of my senses deprived, I wondered if a human could survive this, if this really was about surviving as it is now or if it was an existence that was something else entirely. An anti-existence.

This all occurred in mere seconds.

Sooner than I thought possible, my relative calm of this new place was shattered and I was forced into much too bright brightness. I tried to shield my eyes, but to no avail. The light was coming from within.

Now instead of a never ending sea of ink, I sat in an impossible dense, white cloud that prevented any sight past my nose. The cloud became the darkness and they felt one and the same, but yet the white had a lighter feel and I could no longer sense any oppressing edges of doom. It was less like and more like floating.

Suddenly I was jerked roughly to the side and my vision turned red and my sense all came back to me at once in a very disorienting sort of way. I could hear the wind rushing past my ears, smell something that resembled burnt ozone but wasn't, and I could finally feel that we weren't floating at all, but being lashed about from side to side like leaves in the wind. My vision though stayed flashing in strange shades of red and orange and yellow and it wasn't until Myrnin yelled at me to open my eyes that I realized they were closed.

Seeing was by far the worst experience so far, for I felt real fear lurch in my stomach and my hands clamped so hard against the wooden chair that it was beginning to splinter. The view was magnificently desolate, a blinding whirl of colours that flashed like lightening in greens and reds and yellows and that oppressive feeling came back, as though I could sense the very walls of our open craft.

And then just as suddenly as it begun it was over and I was no longer hurtling through space and time, but looking a very familiar sight indeed.

~XXXX~

The man in the black leather coat experienced something quite similar to that of Amelie's, but very different for he wasn't strapped in and it came to be much more frazzling. Fortunately for him his companion was not within the field of oppression that surrounded the exterior of the machine and was killed. Poor Eve. The man smiled.

At some time, the exactly right time, during the colour flashing part of this "trip" the man knowingly let go of the machine and was flung hundreds of feet away from a safe landing, but vampires can survive that.

~XXXX~

The white cat ran from its perch in the darkest corner of the room and nimbly ran up the stairs and back through all the dark, dank tunnels and back into the bright, happy sunshine of Morganville, Texas. At the edge of the alley of the entrance to Myrnin's lair the cat stopped as if sensing something and then proceeded to leap onto the Day house porch and squeeze in through the open window. Gramma Day pretended not to see the cat dash into the bathroom and never come out.

~XXXX~

"Myrnin, is this..."

"Real?"

"Well, yes."

"Maybe."

"You don't really sound sure."

"I'm not."

...

"Why aren't you?"

"Because I don't know what happened yet."

"But this is the past?"

"It could be."

"And if it's not?"

"Then we're probably dead."

"I thought so."

"Of course you did."

...

"Myrnin?"

"Yes?"

"Hold me."

**Peace, love, tacos, iced tea and lemon, frappuccinos, cappuccinos, apple turnovers and pretty pictures, please review my god damn story! Or I'll have Oliver come eat you in your sleep. And my friend will cry because she's terrible at writing and research papers suck and I just want a review because this is a free country! (Sorry to those strange foreigners who have governments I don't understand. Sucks to suck.)**


	16. Cats and Castles

**Chatper 16….BLAHURFACE!**

**Amelie's POV**

Tears welt up in my eyes, momentarily blurring my vision and I quickly blinked them back, struggling and barely maintaining my control. I needed to see _everything_, in shinning, perfect detail. Just the way I remembered it.

Myrnin removed his arms from around me, giving me that strange, thoughtful look that told me he could see right past any front I may give, silently asking if I was alright. I was of course, I always was, and right at this very moment I was expieriencing a moment of joy that I was quite sure I hadn't expierienced before. Not at this level anyways.

I nodded my head to affirm his conclusion that I would be fine and pushed away from him, standing up and taking in the grassy plain that surrounded us. We were on a hill, fields stretching for miles before us with little farms and fences and miniscule houses. I could already smell horses and animals and sun-sweetened crops ready for harvest. Behind us were miles more of gentle hills dotted with an array of field flowers and slightly astray was a dark and looming forest of many great trees of bright and dark greens. I took it all in with a calm glance, taking it all in yet not really caring for none of that really could capture my attention, not in comparison to the city that lay behind the farmland. It gleamed like a beacon in the pre-dawn light, flickering with many red fires and surrounded in curling smoke. I could smell the smoke from here, from all sorts of woods. Things like oak used for heat and apple wood for cooking. It was the end of summer, September perhaps, and the city would presumably be preparing for the frost that would soon come. But that part of the date really wasn't important. It was the _year_.

The city was great and sprawling with enormous stone walls surrounding it entirely and winding streets that led up and up into a city proper that was visible even from far away. It was beautiful and well maintained, with green spots of gardens and soaring towers that were almost too high to fit in with the surroundings. A secondary ring of walls arose for the center, with even more stone that shone white in the feeble light and that protected a castle. Yes, a castle. A great, big, stone, medieval style castle. With turrets. And a portcullis. And this wasn't some preserved beauty for museum purposes; it was a real, functioning castle. So you see why the year was the important part.

Brushing off the grass that had long turned from soft to itchy from my legs, I gave Myrnin a pointed look that he should perhaps do the same. He just laughed, his whole body shaking with laughter and his curls bouncing around his face in that ridiculously cute way that only he could manage. "Where do you suggest we go, milady? Should we walk towards this place or run away from it? Look at yourself, you're a mess! So am I not to mention." He stopped for a moment and patted himself down, trying to straighten a mess that was never quite straighten-able. But the fool brought up an excellent point. The both of us were still covered in blood spatters and based on our surroundings, my current fashion choice wouldn't even be remotely acceptable. I was still in my white pencil skirt (now more red that white) and a white blazer. Basic, modern wear for me, but I was certain that if I attempted to walk anywhere in that I'd be picked up for indecency, or worse. Hell, I could even get accused of witchcraft in this.

And Myrnin wasn't in much better shape with an awful Hawaiian shirt that I was going to get much pleasure from burning and the rest of him clad in Victorian era style and a collection of Mardi-Gras beads swinging around his pale neck.

Long story short, we were dead.

Well in these clothes anyways.

"I suppose we should start walking then. Look for some more appropriate clothing," I said. By look for, I meant steal.

Myrnin understood and nodded his head, "Shall I carry your heels? I'm afraid they are not going to be helpful in our journey. Sinking in the grass and all. We might as well leave them here but I understand if you want them for sentimental reasons."

"Sentimental reasons?"

"Sure, like women stuff," he responded with a lopsided grin. I hit him. Lightly-ish.

"Fine, I'll leave them," I said evenly, discarding my favourite five inch stiletto Manolo Blahniks. A sudden thought hit me as they fell to the ground, where was the machine?

"Umm, Myrnin?" I began.

"Yeah, I don't know where it went either," he said without meeting my eyes. He was fidgeting, fingers drumming against his side.

"Wonderful," I said rolling my eyes and heading off to the east. It worried me, where it had went to. It was our only way back! And besides someone could find it and that wasn't going to go well, but Myrnin's nonchalant attitude and answer was _too _nonchalant. He knew more than he was willing to tell me then. I almost attempted to pursue the topic farther for I knew if I pushed hard enough he would crack enough to tell me something, but no. I respected him more than that. We went backwards for a reason and it was no use worrying over the guarding of a machine if it was already hidden and Myrnin was _very _good at hiding things. I would simply have to wait, for when Myrnin was scheming there was no use in trying to put any logic or thought to it. For all I knew he had minimized it and stuffed in a pocket or something. I never really knew what he was going to do.

Dawn was coming on fast, much faster than I would have hoped and although the sun wouldn't kill us I wasn't up to sitting around, baking in it. "We'll go this way. I believe there is a farm only five or so miles ahead where we can gather ourselves." Myrnin nodded and took off at vampire pace, not waiting to see if I would follow. This was going to be a _long_ day.

~XXXX~

Claire awoke in a room. Not just any room. _Her _room.

Everything was exactly how she had left it: a discarded pair of jeans abandoned in a corner, bed hastily made, open books still scattered about from last night's study session. It was all exactly the way she remembered, it even _smelled_ the same and the curtains still had that little stain on the side from when she dropped a cup of coffee and sent it splashing everywhere.

Her eyes moved to the half open window, early afternoon light hung in the through, pulling in a light, hot dessert breeze that was as dry as the sand it came from. It felt like only a few hours after she had felt that awful, burning pain that tinged the world in red and threatened to take everything away. She could still remember the flashes thoughts and sights and smells that surrounded those moments that now felt years old, hung in shrouds and buried deep. Images of Myrnin's beautiful face, taut with fear and eyes welling with tears, the sharp metallic scent of blood that overpowered everything, blindingly bright light flashing against the blackness, someone screaming, and whispered words that begged someone to hold on, to keep holding on to life. These kept spinning past her eyes until she felt sick and dizzy and wanted nothing more than to curl into the soft bed before her.

She groaned and kicked off her shoes, flopping onto the bed and pulling the pillow against her face, trying to block out all the things she couldn't get her freak smart, genius mind to understand.

A noise startled her into shocking alertness and she let out a mumbled "Who's there?" The noise came again followed by a sound that resembled the purring of a cat.

Probably because it was a cat.

Claire fell back against the wall as a pure white cat jumped off of a bed of pillows on the tan chaise lounge in the corner and strode towards her with a purposed walk, tail swishing back and forth in an easy manner.

The cat had grey, almost colourless eyes burned with a way too human intelligence that put Claire on her guard. Had Eve picked up a stray? She knew that neither of the boys would bring one home. Or had it climbed in through the window? There was a branch fairly close to the house that a cat could easily jump. Claire blinked.

It wasn't a cat at all.

It was Amelie.

The ice queen continued to stride towards her, looking entirely unruffled for being a fifth of the size only moments earlier. She yawned and gracefully stretched herself onto the bed next to Claire, playing with her long hair.

Claire fainted.

~XXXX~

Oliver stood up, brushing off the dirt and grass clumps and leaves that had stuck to him from the fall. He reached out to retrieve his fallen hat, but that proved impossible as his arm was neatly broke, the bone twisting up and out his skin in an almost completely straight break.

"Bothersome," he muttered, snapping it into place and staring at the horizon which was steadily becoming brighter. He was going to need blood, and fast. He cast a glance around, searching through the hills that were laid out before him and decided that it would be best to move out tomorrow for there was nothing in sight and he had no care for wandering around in the sun. The forest would have to do.

The great and dark trees were only a few hundred yards to the west and provided soft, cool shade and protection against the fast dawning sun. Oliver paused at the edge of the forest, running his fingers over the rough, sappy bark of a tree and taking in the familiar scents around him. Far too long had it been since he had breathed in such clean air, undisturbed by the toxic fumes of "modern" society. He sighed and took in another breath this time catching a scent on the wind.

Amelie.

She was here. And close. Far too close for his liking. Time to move. Giving the hills one last glance, he plunged into the forest and didn't look back.

**Review. I am done with the theatrics, just review. **


	17. War is Coming

**HEY GUYS! So it's chapter 17! YAY!... So um, this it set in past (obviously) and I'm not like a historian or anything so like don't get your panties in a knot if something doesn't historically match up cuz I don't feel like researching… it's the weekend. Thanks. Oh, and the next person who says that they're confused about something is going to get a ten page long rant about how you're not supposed to know why things are happening cuz there's this thing called a **_**plot**_** which many **_**writers**_** like use in writing **_**stories**_** and there's this other thing called **_**suspense**_**. So for those who don't know what those are (god help us) there is this lovely invention called Google, and no matter what Myrnin says about it, works perfectly, wonderfully fine. Muchas gracias mis amigos! **

**Claire POV**

"Good, you're finally awake. I was wondering if I would have to resuscitate you."

Groggily, I slowly opened my eyes to the bursting oranges of sunlight and blinked, staring up at the white ceiling, pulling in a shaky breath and rubbing my hands hard across my eyes, unwilling to leave the warmth of sleep. I rolled over, snuggling my face against the cool cotton of the pillow and making a vague motion to whoever was talking to shut up and let me be.

I was contented to stay there until I remember exactly whose voice it was that woke me. I sat up with a start, eyes popping open to full width and staring at Amelie in wonderment. This had to be a dream. Or a hallucination. I blinked furiously to no avail, trying to make her go away and then for good measure I pinched myself and when that accomplished nothing, I attempted to do something impossible like put my hand through a wall, since this was something I heard you could do to check if you were in a dream or not. Sadly, the wall did not give way.

Amelie was cat.

Let me repeat, Amelie was a _fucking cat!_

Yep, I definitely needed to dial back on the Myrnin drugs and stop smelling all those sharpies.

Deciding to skip the awkward part where I ruthlessly questioned her shape-shifting, I went for the more obvious and far less dubious option, "Why does my head hurt?"

"I thought you were faking your wooziness for effect, and forgot to catch you," she said simply, doing that freaky staring thing she did where she didn't blink for like hours.

"Oh… Thanks," I said, giving her a glare and glancing to the stained side table to see if there was an available bottle of aspirin, which of course there wasn't. I inwardly groaned.

"I don't know why you would be thanking me, I highly neglected to do anything, but pick you up off the floor." She still hadn't blinked.

"Yeah, it was sarcasm."

"Of course," Amelie said like she actually knew what I was saying when she obviously had no clue. She finally looked away then and stared at the worn, wooden floor for a moment, pausing as if for dramatic effect before her gaze snapped up and rested heavily on mine. "You're dead."

I laughed a bit, thinking she was threatening me and asked, "You'd really kill me for being sarcastic?" God, she was moody.

She shook her head no, looking uncomfortable and a bit apprehensive, "No Claire, you're already dead. Present tense. You have died and now you are dead." She looked away and wouldn't meet my eyes.

Wow. Cut to the chase much?

I choked a bit, and another raspy laugh wriggled out of my throat. I couldn't be dead! I was sitting here in my room, breathing, moving, _living._ How, how had this even happened? "Did I hit my head that hard?" I asked, but I already knew the answer. She shook her head, blonde hair falling about and concealing her face, confirming my suspicions that I had been dead long before I fainted.

Which of course just made me faint again.

~XXX~

"Myrnin, for the one hundredth time, you are not wearing that!" Amelie yelled, growling a bit on the end in frustration, "It's the wrong goddamned time period!"

"So?" Myrnin asked, waggling his eyebrows, mischievously. _Mischievously_. Like all she needed was mischief. God, she hated him sometimes.

"NO! And that's final!"

"Why?" he asked again, pouting now.

"Because I said so!"

"That's not a good reason!"

"YES IT IS!"

"Geez, are you trying to wake up the entire countryside? Cool it, Amelie!" Myrnin said, laughing a bit.

"UG! Why do you choose now of all times to start picking up on that "modern" lingo? Do you hate me that much? Are you trying to get us killed?!" she screamed, kicking a table for good measure. Amelie was highly used to everyone jumping at her command and wasn't in the mood to be agreeable and remember her patience and manners.

"Stop, please," Myrnin was suddenly serious and he reached out and grabbed her arm to still her, "We're fine, really Amelie, we're fine and everything is going to work out. I promise."

Amelie consented with a nod of her head, she was tired, too tired and didn't like being forced into situations she couldn't control. She hated admitting that she missed the past so very much and now that she was finally in a time that she could comfortingly call home, she was miserable and scared. "Of course, I'm just….. stressed."

Myrnin nodded and looked away. "Well perhaps we should hide the bodies, it might be bad if we send the whole country on a manhunt for a killer, you surely remember how mortals love to get worked up about things!"

"Right, um, well, why don't you take of that and I'll fetch, uh, _steal_, some more…um…supplies…" Amelie said, flashing him a smile and darting out of the room into the fading evening light.

"Seriously? And you call me immature?" Myrnin grumbled and began dragging the bodies into the backyard.

~XXXX~

~One Year Later~

Oliver raised his hand to the air in a fist and listened as the rest of his troops halted behind him.

"Sir?" his lieutenant called out questioningly.

"Send about a hundred men ahead to scout out the hills. The winter approaches weary and I have doubts about the stability of the land. I want them back by nightfall," Oliver stated, staring off into the distance, trying to gauge how long it would take to reach the far off mountains. Probably another whole week with this amount of men. Tiresome this whole commanding thing was, Oliver had forgotten the amount of effort it took to control just over 1000 soldiers. Vampires were much easier to deal with, and much faster. For a moment his thoughts surged back to Morganville, back to Amelie, back to a life he had grown much too accustomed to. To think he even missed those miserable cellular phones. How preposterous.

"Yes, sir," his lieutenant replied and turned his brown steed around and began shouting orders at the rest of the men, giving directions for this and that and for who was to go.

War was coming.

And Oliver couldn't wait.

**Ohhh! PLOT TWIST! Now, stop being PEASANTS and review! Thanks! (and many more thanks to all those flawless human/majorly-mildly sentient beings who have reviewed!)**


	18. The Unwound Future

**I'm running out of witty things to say. The world must be ending. **

Oliver leaned back against the rough bark of the tree, resting for a moment as his third commander tried again to stutter out an explanation of the situation to him. Oliver just wasn't getting it.

"So tell me again how you managed to lose _2000 men _to a _single, unarmed woman_?" Oliver growled out, eyes blurring to red before he could stop himself.

The commander recoiled a bit and stared furiously at the ground in fright, his whole body shaking and heart pumping at a mile a minute. It was quite a distraction for Oliver. He was hungry.

"Well?" he spit out.

"Umm, well, we were… I mean she was…. Umm… she was… uh, she had… a… well you see…. umm-" he stammered, shaking even more and red rising into his cheeks.

"Save it," Oliver cut him off, "You may go." The soldier convulsively nodded, eyes still wild with fright and stumbled off towards the encampment, presumably to find some way to regain his dignity.

_Damn her!_

How could one woman do so much damage in so little time? Oliver was beyond frustrated now and the simple thought of her made him shake with the anger of losing again and again and _again! _Finally had he caught her at a bad moment, a moment where she was without friends (save that equally wretched fool), without help, without guards, without her father, without _hope_ and he still couldn't crush her. She had nothing and yet she persevered on, stumbling sure, but ever onward. Yes, it was much beyond frustrating.

"James!" Oliver barked at a nearby soldier.

"Yes, sir?" he said, stepping forward with his head slightly bowed.

"Fetch me that miserable fiend that just slithered out of here and be quick about it. I'm hungry."

"Uh, yes sir" James said, with a gulp and wide eyes. He was one of few who was privileged enough to know his general's harshly kept secret, but was surprised that Oliver was feeding from his own troops, something he swore not do, but only in the direst of times.

Oliver's eyes narrowed at the soldiers questioning manner and he let them go red, showing an urgency and an anger that words couldn't properly express. James only stared for a second before practically sprinting off towards the hundreds of tents lining the valley.

He felt bad about scaring his men and knew that this time rumors were sure to spread no matter what he might do to cap them and this only further angered his already disastrous mood.

Amelie was going to lose this time. He knew it. He could feel it. Feel it in every part of him. Her time of sitting pretty on that throne of hers, glaring down at the world below with that icy cold stare was over. He didn't care how good of a ruler she proved to be at times, she had no right to barge into everywhere she went and _rule_! Why was she that one who was always in charge? Always in charge of everything! And Oliver was sick of it, sick of always being second, always being in a position where she could throw him away at a moment's notice. He was _important!_

And this hatred of her, this _loathing _of her, was the same thing that fueled his equally great love for her, love and admiration. He admired her and he envied her and he wanted her. Too many conflicting emotions for poor Oliver and he was never one to give any whims to the idealistic notions of any emotions, but hate, and certainly never love. In fact this conflict only made him angrier….. and hungrier.

And that is why when James came back with the stupid, moronic, idiot who had let her get away for the eighth time this year, he ate them both.

~XXXX~

I was dead. Or at least Amelie had told me I was dead. But if she was telling me I was dead then wouldn't I be in some afterlife place? Unless I was a ghost again. But ghosts can't faint! And if I was actually dead and in the "afterlife" and Amelie was here talking to me, wouldn't she have to be dead too? Or was I in some limbo thing that she had a way of jumping in and out of? Or was I just half-way dead and dreaming this and I was in a coma and would wake up soon? Or just plain dreaming and none of it was real?

Except I remember dying.

My head hurts.

"Are you going to stay attentive this time or should I find some smelling salts?" Amelie asked in her dainty voice, head tilted to the side.

She was acting strange, a very strange mix of regular Amelie and I'm-a-fifteen-year-old-Amelie. Maybe this was just how dead-Amelie acted…

"Where am I?" I asked, because if I was dead that certainly was the real question.

"Well, in your bedroom of course! What does it look like?" Amelie asked, confusion spreading across her features. She sighed a bit and drummed her fingers against the end table.

"Yes, but where is my bedroom exactly?"

"Ahh, now that's a more appropriate question! How observant of you! I've really missed you Claire!" she said, full on smile lighting up her features, "It's been almost four centuries since you and Myrnin left for—Oh, I really shouldn't give away the future! Sorry!"

"Future?" I asked, sitting up now and staring at Amelie with wide eyes. "How do you know my future? How do I have a future if I'm dead? Are you dead? Wait, scratch those, Amelie, how old are you?"

"Yes, very clever indeed. I truly have missed you, child. I certainly will be fetching you again as of soon. Your services are still rather invaluable," Amelie said with sad eyes, eyes that held many more years than they should.

"Amelie, how old are you?" I was getting impatient now.

"6423!" she answered brightly, much too brightly.

"But that means—"

"Yes dear! Time travel! Messy thing, really. Takes a bit to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it's quite wonderful! Oh, and all the planets! Claire, you're going to love the future! It's brilliant!" she said full of pride, and practically beaming. I guess vampires really mellowed out after six millennia.

But back to the point.

"BUT I'M DEAD! SO HOW CAN I HAVE A FUTURE!"

"Claire, darling, please don't shout, it's rather unbecoming of you. And if you were paying a bit more attention you would have realized that, your predicament is precisely what I came back to fix!" She smiled again. This new Amelie was much too smiley and was going to take some getting used to.

I just glared at her and waited for her to say something, say anything really, to make it all right, but she only smiled even more and leaned into to ask, "Now tell me, child, have you ever heard of a crack in the space-time continuum?"

Physics. Now that was something I could handle.

**The flipping end. Oh and, I'm in Florida! Be jel! AND FREAKIN REVIEW! I will hate you forever if you follow or fav and don't review, that is very unkind of you and rude and Amelie would bitch slap you for your uncouth, boorish, crude, impertinent, and frankly barbaric behavior!**


	19. Just a Little Bit of Strategy

**Chapter 19! Happy Easter, if you celebrate that kind of thing, or, er, Semana Santa and fine day if you don't! R&R loves!**

**Amelie POV**

"Quickly now! They're almost upon us!" Amelie shouted back to Myrnin, her blonde hair whipping about her face in the cool mountain wind. Blood was splattered against her leather armour and spilled out from a long cut in her side that wasn't healing fast enough. Why she had thought white armour was a good idea was beyond her.

Damn it! They were so close, but it wasn't nearly close enough.

Oliver's troops were closing in fast. Almost 500 riders were chasing directly behind and another 100 were coming in from the hills and trapping them against the mountain side. If only they could make it into the pass, it would be too narrow for the horses and they could outrun the humans on foot.

"Steady boy, steady," Amelie whispered to her horse, wincing as he stumbled on the rocky terrain. It was rough goings and they had been running them hard for hours now. Soon the horse would give out beneath them from a combination of exhaustion and fright.

"Amelie, this isn't going to work! We aren't going to make it!" Myrnin screamed at her, the symphony of thundering hooves getting louder and louder each minute, almost drowning out his voice.

He was right, they weren't, she could see that. Amelie felt her heart sink, capture at this point would be worse than death, but there was a chance her and Myrnin could fight through them, they were only humans after all and she was a vampire. A severely weakened one, but one none the less.

And yet, though prideful as she was, Amelie knew her limits and taking down a 600 man cavalry in an unfavorable position in this state was way, way beyond their capabilities. She looked up into the tops of the misty mountains, taking in the beauty.

Would now be a good time to die?

Death felt more favorable than letting Oliver win. She cast a cautious glance back, gauging the distance. The army was still gaining ever more ground with each passing second. 200 yards maybe? Maybe even less.

Focus, focus, focus.

Her eyes narrowed and then closed and she just breathed in and out in a easy pace, taking in the scent of blood, hers and Myrnin's, the horses sweat, the musky smell of a wet forest and the sharp and clean smell of a brisk breeze. She felt the steady rhythm of the horse beneath her, the way his muscles tensed and stretched with each movement and the cold, early winter wind biting against her cheeks. She listened intently to the fluttering of birds flying away from the coming danger and patting on tiny animal feet in the underbrush and a far off brook, bubbling onwards towards a smooth lake. Blocking out the pain and the fear and the exhaustion, she felt, she heard, she listened and she _focused._

And suddenly the answer.

There.

"This way!" Amelie called to Myrnin, turning for an almost completely hidden path that wound up into the mountains until snow and mist concealed it from sight.

"Amelie it's no good! They saw us head for it and they can see us now! We can't hide!" Myrnin said, the fear obvious in his voice. This past year had changed them, changed them more than ten centuries had in the past and they were no longer the easy, relaxed versions of themselves that had been in Morganville and running for their lives, having nothing, and feeling constant fear had become commonplace.

"Just shut up and follow me! You'll see!" Amelie yelled back, not bothering to explain. She had an idea, an intuition, that feeling that she got that made her one of the strongest leaders of all time.

They continued to plunge upward into the mountains for almost another hour until the evening sun gave way to darkest night of a new moon and until the horses had very little left to give, but the steep climb stopped the heavily armoured soldiers from gaining any more ground and gave them time. In whispered words Amelie explained her rather devious plan to Myrnin with excited gestures and despite the chill, their moods soared for it very well could work.

Soon the mud and rocks gave way to ice and snow and they went even slower, moving at a slow trot through the woods. Ten minutes later Amelie veered off onto a wide trail. She continued down it until it almost ended, leaving a 20 yard stretch before a cliff jutted out and the trail gave way to nothing.

You see, it wasn't a trail at all.

It was a frozen river.

And those 20 yards before the cliff were pure ice.

Hit it galloping and there would be no stopping.

And the best part?

Because of the new moon, the humans had very poor light and the cliff would be almost invisible to them.

They would never know what hit them.

It was brilliant.

Sure enough, ten minutes later the army came storming down glacial river at full speed for the choppy snow gave the horses sure holdings and they ran with ease. The river was wide and the soldiers ran ten abreast, making fifty organized lines as they were taught. They were a fearsome force. So tediously organized to create a look if never ending, oncoming doom. Almost impossible to defeat, yet still finite. Their confidence would be their downfall.

Just as Amelie predicted, the cavalry hit the ice at full speed and thirty were off the cliff before any even knew what was happening. Fifty more before any had time to even try stopping and by the time the troops regained control there was only a hundred left, standing confused and startled on the ice while the screams of their comrades echoed through the valley below and the awful sound of crunching bones and snapping limbs reverberated through with a deafening racket.

At this point Amelie and Myrnin ran from the sides, at full vampire speed, a length a rope stretched between them and they ran to the edge of the cliff dragging dozens more soldiers off the edge, stopping at the last possible second before they too plummeted off. This left a pitiful amount of maybe thirty men left, easily dispatched by Myrnin and Amelie.

They did this once again with a second round of troops, killing five hundred more, then headed back down the mountain to the small encampment of a thousand more soldiers waiting for the return of their other thousand comrades who were now neatly piled only a few miles away in a mass grave at the bottom of a waterfall.

Amelie and Myrnin, quite as mice crept into the rambunctious camp and poisoned all the barrels of mead and wine before quickly departing without even a single watchman to notice them. In the morning over half were dead. By the afternoon, three-fourths.

The next morning a very small and very sad amount of soldiers, numbering only 200 hundred, began a rather weary trek back to the main encampment of their leader where they were met with another clever trick. A staged rock fall that killed most all but a lucky seven, who were left to report back to a very angry Oliver about their disastrous attempt to capture their completely unarmed enemy.

And this is the story of how Amelie killed 2000 men without a single weapon and why she will always be a total badass.

**Guess what I want! You're right! I want reviews! Ten reviews actually! Only ten! Not really that much to ask for! I will only update once I have ten, got it, **_**TEN**_**?! Oh, and the next chapter is going to contain some extra steamy scenes so review…..**

**XXXX**

**Evey Claire**


	20. Inferno

**So I decided that this story didn't have nearly enough sex in it and thought a little Amelie/Oliver action would spice things up! So here you go! Oh and I felt bad with major cliff hanger of what-the-hell-happened-to-Claire so there's some more info on that! A third point of view if you will. **

"I know you're there," Oliver called out to the gently swaying brush. Nothing answered him. "Amelie, I know you're there."

Oliver swung his head back and forth, body tensed in a low crouch, scanning the emerald woods around him in the evening light. Birds chirped overhead, telling each other this and that about nothing and in the distance he could hear the heartbeat of an unknown animal. She was there, watching him. He could feel it.

"Amelie." It was a growl this time. He had no time for games, they were fighting a war after all. A twig snapped and mocking laughter floated through the air, coming from all sides making it placeless. Oh, of course she found it amusing, this childish game of hide and seek, it symbolized her victory.

Oliver was getting impatient. He knew that she was fully aware that he would be able to sense her, and still the play.

Fingers brushed against his neck and he turned slowly, much too slowly to catch her, fangs snapping down as more disembodied laughter rang out. She had always been quick, it was her way of making up for the lack of brute strength. "Amelie, please!" He was begging now, the sense of her so close to him driving him mad. She could attack if it so pleased her and he doubted his ability to stop her. This- interaction- with the past, with being lost and having no one to fall onto had made her fiercer than ever. She no longer had a pretty gold throne and a pretty white dress to use for her illusions. All she had was her heart and that was in quite bad shape.

"What did you do to Claire?" she hissed at him, "She is _mine_!" She was circling him, rounding in closer and closer, her anger tripping up her former idea to stay hidden.

"Claire? You started this because you thought I was the cause of Claire's death?"

"Weren't you?" her voice was bitter and cynical, any warmth and laughter gone.

"No, Amelie, I wasn't, I wouldn't. I'm not overly fond of the child, but she proves useful. I saw only what you saw," Oliver stopped moving and stood completely still, hands resting at his sides with palms up. He wouldn't admit it, but he felt mildly saddened by her passing. She was an interesting girl.

"And what was that which you saw, old friend?" Amelie was even closer now, prepared to strike at him for even the smallest inconsistency.

"You were talking and Myrnin came in through the portal. The girl went to him, but he turned her away and she was hurt, crying and she stumbled away from him like he had hit her and she turned around to say something and everything froze. It was like time stopped for a complete moment and I couldn't move and couldn't really even think. Then a rushing noise rose like an awful wind, like time was suddenly catching up. I never blinked. One second Claire was standing there and the next she was dead on the floor. I don't know what happened."

The forest was quite. Nothing moved.

"Amelie?"

She leapt at him from behind, so quickly, so agilely, he never noticed until her hands were fastened around him, lips pressed against his neck.

They stood completely still like that for the better part of an hour until Amelie broke the silence with a soft sigh, "Oliver?"

"Yes?"

"I need you. Now."

"Need me? You spend months destroying me on false, unproven pretenses and now you need me? Would you not have killed me if I had met you on the battlefield? That is not needing _me_, Amelie. That's needing an _enemy_ and I refuse to be yours any longer, I've been it for far too long."

"Then don't be Oliver, be my friend, my lover. Be what you've desired to be, what I _need_ you to be."

"Amelie…" his voice slid into an almost growl, a warning. He struggled against her grasp for a moment and she let him go with another sigh. Spinning to face her, he stared straight into her eyes, trying to find any hint that she was just mocking him. He still thought she hated him.

"Oliver please!" Amelie whimpered, her features falling.

"You're begging now?"

"Yes!" she murmured, "Yes, yes, yes, if that will help. Anything."

"Anything Amelie? I don't need to be forced. Trust me." He kept looking at her, still searching her eyes, desperately waiting for her to turn on him. She wasn't, but obviously he couldn't see that. Or he wasn't letting himself see it.

Either way Amelie was sick of waiting. She'd been waiting for far too long.

Leaning forward in a smooth slow motion that allowed both of them time to change their minds, Amelie kissed him. Slowly, softly, as gentle as possible, afraid he would still be unsure of her intent. Oliver's eyes closed and he stayed perfectly still, a frozen statue.

"Oliver."

His eyes flashed open, red for a hunger, a different kind of hunger, and he pushed into her, throwing them both onto the rough ground. Fighting, struggling to see who would be in control, in a completion as always, in every aspect, the two rolled across the ground, sending dirt and rocks flying, shoving each other into trees, completely destroying the bits of brush here and there, their battle for dominancy continued. Finally Amelie pinned Oliver to the ground, his wrist above head. She smiled and ground her hips into him making him sigh. "I win."

"Hardly," Oliver growled, flipping them over and putting Amelie into the same position he had been in moments ago. Neither wanted to give in and neither wanted to win. "Perhaps we should continue this somewhere else?"

"Perhaps." Neither moved.

A second.

A minute.

Two.

"Oliver?"

"Yes?"

"Fuck me."

And he did.

Slowly at first, they attempted to make patient love, the romantic, rose-petal kind. Neither of them were really into that.

Frustrated with all the claps and buckles and buttons and laces and layers of each other's medieval clothing, Oliver resolved to simply ripping it all off in a quick show of brute strength. Amelie grinned at his bare chest, he may have physically been older, but he had also been a warrior which left behind a rather expansive and well defined chest to explore.

Fingers moving across each other now, both still competing to see who could pleasure who first, Amelie denied him access to her, instead choosing to push him onto his back, slowing trailing kisses all the way down his chest, pausing right above his throbbing erection, a devious smile playing on her lips, her breath heavy and warm sliding over his skin and teasing him.

She laughed at his eagerness, at him panting for air he didn't need and dragged on the hesitation, her hand sliding closer and closer until he could no longer bear the tension and with a growl leapt forward, shoving her onto the ground, and began relentlessly pounding in and out until they both found the release they had been looking for.

~XXXX~

"So let me just get this straight," Claire began, staring at Amelie with a look that could only be called unbelief. "Myrnin built a time machine, an actual, real life, functioning _time machine?"_

"Of course, child, weren't you listening? Oh never mind, you were never a good listener," Amelie said with a flippant roll of her eyes. Claire frowned, she was pretty sure that listening was one of her best traits. "Like I said, and remember little dove, I really do hate repeating myself."

Amelie paused with a glare as it was Claire's turn to roll her eyes. This future-Amelie-creature sounded more like Myrnin then she did Amelie, and Claire was fairly certain that two Myrnins was _not _a good thing. "I heard you the first time!" she sighed out, exasperated.

Amelie's eyes took a not-so-nice gleam to them, "Then why are you questioning me, child?" Claire gulped.

"Because it just doesn't make any sense! I can't understand it! Science, you say? This is so far beyond the knowledge the world has! It's very difficult to understand!" Claire gently massaged her temples, focusing on how pretty the curtains looked in the pre-dawn light. In all honesty Claire, understood string theory better than she did this, hell, she understood teenage boy's behavior better than she understood this.

Cracks in space that caused rifts in time by overlapping events there were supposed to be locked in place? How could something that happened in the future affect something that happened in the past? Claire could feel a migraine coming on.

Soft hands cupped Claire's cheeks and she found herself staring directly into Amelie's intense, grey eyes. "I understand how hard it is, child, but you must try to make sense of it, it's the only way for you to survive this."

Claire gulped and nodded, she didn't know how much she trusted this new Amelie, but she knew that if she wanted to survive this, Amelie was the only way.

"Like I was saying," Amelie continued, diving straight into the most unbelievable story Claire had ever heard.

**Hallelujah! I know it's later than I said I would update but I was in Puerto Rico without any internet for two weeks so I don't care. **

**REVIEW!**

**Just so you know I can see exactly how many people are viewing this story and not reviewing and let me just say how demonic, downright mean, and uncivilized that is of you.**

**As said in Dante's Inferno, "The seventh layer of hell is reserved especially for those who favorite, but do not review."**

**Goodnight moon, goodnight cruel world. **


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